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STORIES OF 
OLD KENTUCKY 



BY 



MARTHA GRASSHAM PURCELL 

AUTHOR OF '< SETTLEMENTS AND CESSIONS OF LOUISIANA 
MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 
PAUUCAH, KENTUCKY 




AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 

NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 



Copyright, iqis. by 
MARTHA GRASSHAiM PURCELL. 

Copyright, 1915, in Great Britain. 

STORIES OF OLD KENTUCKY. 
E. P. I 



MAR II 1316 



©CI,A397055 



PREFACE 

To be easily assimilated, our mental food, like our 
physical food, should be carefully chosen and attrac- 
tively served. 

The history of the ''Dark and Bloody Ground" 
teems with adventure and patriotism. Its pages are 
filled with the great achievements, the heroic deeds, 
and the inspiring examples of the explorers, the set- 
tlers, and the founders of our state. In the belief that 
a knowledge of their struggles and conquests is food 
that is both instructive and inspiring, and with a 
knowledge that a text on history does not always 
attract, the author sets before the youth of Kentucky 
these stories of some of her great men. 

This book is intended as both a supplementary 
reader and a text, for, though in story form, the chap- 
ters are arranged chronologically, and every fact re- 
corded has been verified. 

Thanks are due to the many friends who have 
. granted access to papers of historical value, to many 
others who have assisted in making this book a real- 
ity, and especially to my husband. Dr. Clyde Edison 
Purcell, for his valuable suggestions,^ careful criticisms, 
and untiring cooperation. 

MARTHA GRASSHAM PURCELL. 
5 



CONTENTS 



When the Ocean Covered Kentucky 
The Aborigines of Kentucky , 
Some Prehistoric Remains . 
The Discovery of Kentucky 
Indian Claims in Kentucky 

ScouwA 

The Graveyard of the Mammoths . 
The Druid of Kentucky 
A Pioneer Nobleman . 
Early Kentucky Customs 
Boone's Illustrious Peer 
Boone's Trace 
Boone in Captivity 
Boonesborough's Brave Defense 

The Lost Baby 

The First Romance in Kentucky 
A Wedding in the Wilderness . 
Pioneer Children .... 
How THE Pioneers Made Change 

A Woman's Will 

When the Women Brought the Water 
The Result of One Rash Act . 
Two Kentucky Heroes 
The Battle of the Boards 
The Faithful Slave and His Reward 
The Double Shot .... 
A Man of Strategy and Sagacity . 

6 



PAGE 

9 

lO 

i6 

i8 

22 

23 
27 
28 

33 
37 
41 
49 
52 
56 
61 
64 
G-j 
70 
72 
73 
1^ 
83 
86 
89 
91 
94 
96 



CONTENTS 



The Kind-hearted Indian . 

Saved by the Hug of a Bear . 

A Kentuckian Defeated the British 

A Famous March 

The First Christmas Party 

Fort Jefferson .... 

"The Hard Winter" . 

Wildcat McKinney 

How Kentucky was Formed 

Kentucky in the Revolution . 

Kentucky's Pioneer Historian . 

Spanish Conspiracy 

A Kentucky Inventor 

Other Kentucky Inventions 

The Man who Knew about Birds 

A Hero of Honor 

The "Pride of the Pennyrile " 

Lucy Jefferson Lewis 

Natural Curiosities in Kentucky 

The World's Greatest Natural Wo 

How Reelfoot Lake was Formed 
Kentucky Valor in 1812-1815 . 

A Triumvirate of Eloquence . 
Kentuckians in Texas and Mexico 
Clay, the Great Commoner 
Kentucky in the War between th 
. Why Some Cities were so Named 
Kentucky in the Field of Science 
"Bessemer Steel" in Kentucky 
Kentucky Artists 
Kentucky in the Field of Letters 
Kentuckians in History . 



NDER 



States 



PAGE 
lOI 

IIO 

113 
115 
118 
119 

122 
123 

128 

138 
140 
143 

ISO 
153 
155 
159 
161 
163 
166 
167 
169 
171 

17s 
179 
182 
184 
187 
190 



A LIST OF BOOKS ABOUT KENTUCKY 

Audubon, Lucy : '' Life and Journals of John James Audubon.'* 
Putnam. 

Collins, R. H. : " History of Kentucky." Collins & Co. 

Eggleston, E. : '' Stories of American Life and Adventure.'* 
" Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans." Ameri- 
can Book Co. 

HuLBERT, A. B. : " Boone's Wilderness Road." Arthur H. Clark Co. 

Johnson, E. P. : " History of Kentucky and Kentuckians." Lewis 
Publishing Co. 

KiNKEAD, E. S. : '' History of Kentucky." American Book Co. 

Marshall, H. : " History of Kentucky." Frankfort. 

Otis, James : " Hannah of Kentucky." American Book Co. 

Price, S. W. : '' Old Masters of the Blue Grass." Morton & Co. 

Shaler, N. S. : " Kentucky." Houghton Mifflin Co. 

Smith, H. L : '' Prehistoric Ethnology of a Kentucky Site." Amer. 
Museum of Nat. Hist. 

Smith, Z. F. : '' History of Kentucky." Courier- Journal Co. 

Stockton, F. R. : " Stories of New Jersey." American Book Co. 

Thompson, E. P. : "A Young People's History of Kentucky." 
A. R. Fleming Publishing Co. 

Townsend, J. W. : " Kentuckians in History and Literature." 
Neale Publishing Co. " Kentucky in American Letters." 
Torch Press. 

Young, B. H. : " Prehistoric Men of Kentucky." Filson Club. 



STORIES OF OLD KENTUCKY 

WHEN THE OCEAN COVERED KENTUCKY 

Facts are stranger than fiction ; and when we read 
the great volume of Nature, we find it more intensely 
interesting, instructive, and exciting than any "tale" 
told by our master minds. 

It is difficult enough for the youth of to-day to 
reahze there was ever a time when Kentucky did not 
have a place on the map and in the march of events. 
Still more difficult is it for them to realize that there 
was a time when the ocean covered our state. Geo- 
logical annals show that the surface of Kentucky was 
once the bed of the sea. This primitive ocean is 
supposed to have covered a large part of North America 
to the depth of several thousand feet. As we read 
the record in the soil and as we study the strata, we 
find evidence of a gradual retreat of the briny waters 
without proofs of any very violent or sudden disrup- 
tions of the ocean. The creation or appearance of 
sea animals, fishes, polyps, and the formation of hme- 
stone, sandstone, slate, grit, and pebble, are parts of 
the stor}^ here recorded. 

9 



lO THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY 

The retreat of the briny waters continued and con- 
tinued for ages, until finally the Cumberland or Wasioto 
Mountains emerged, followed by the Black, Laurel, 
Pine, Long, and Galico Mountains ; other lower eleva- 
tions then rose until only an inland sea, surrounded 
by sandy hills, remained. Then the grasses, reeds, 
and mosses left their impress ; land animals, insects, 
birds, and reptiles appeared ; vegetation increased, 
and trees and shrubs grew. 

Still the waters receded ; marshes, muddy swamps, 
licks, small lakes, ponds, clay and marl deposits were 
left ; sinks and caves were formed ; and land plants 
and animals increased. 

As the waters still slowl}^ but surely receded, creeks, 
rivers, and valleys received their present shape, the 
ocean reached its actual level, and the American conti- 
nent assumed its shape. The huge animals — the big 
bears, buffaloes, jaguars, elephants, and mastodons — 
roamed over what is now Kentucky, and left their 
impress at Big Bone Lick, Drennon's Lick, and other 
points where the savage, the settler, and the man of 
science have successively meditated and marveled over 
their prehistoric remains. 

THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY 

When but a little girl one of m}^ greatest delights 
was to sit at the feet of my maternal grandfather 
and listen to the tales of the olden times. Grand- 



THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY 



II 



fathers and grandmothers always love to tell stories, 
and boys and girls love to hear them. Our grand- 
parents were not the only ones that enjoyed teUing 
stories of the great past; Indians also related many 
things to their children of what had happened in the 




The Indians loved to tell stories to their children. 

long ago. But as the red men had no books in which 
to record these happenings, some of their stories may 
be of real incidents and a great deal may be purely 
imaginary, for we know the Indian was always very 
superstitious. 

There is a story told by the Lenni-Lenape Indians, 
who lived in eastern United States, that their ancestors 



12 THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY 

in the very earliest times were mere animals living 
underground. One of them accidentally found a hole 
by which he came to the surface of the ground, and 
soon the whole tribe followed. These Indians believed 
that they gradually became human beings; so in re- 
membrance of their ancestors, they chose such names 
as "Black Bear," "Black Hawk," "Red Horse," and 
"Sitting Bull." Some of the tribes believing in this 
tradition would not eat any underground animals 
Hke the rabbit, ground hog, and ground squirrel, for 
fear they would be eating their kinsmen. 

Another very interesting tradition told by these 
Lenni-Lenape, or Delawares, is that these ancestors 
came from west of the Mississippi and that when 
they tried to cross this stream the right of passage 
was disputed by a powerful force called the Alligewi, 
from whose name we get the word Allegheny. Being 
determined to cross this mighty stream and move 
eastward, the Lenni-Lenape joined with the Mengwe 
(Iroquois) in a war upon the Alligewi, overcame them, 
and almost exterminating them, drove the remnant 
of their tribe entirely from the country. 

General G. R. Clark, Colonel McKee, and Colonel 
James Moore at different times and places were told 
by Indians, among them the noted chiefs "Cornstalk" 
and "Tobacco," that before the red men came to 
Kentucky — named from Ken-tuck-ee, meaning in 
Indian language, "the river of Blood" — a white 
race, superior in many arts and crafts unknown to 



THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY 13 

the red men, the builders of the many forts, and the 
inhabitants of the vast burying grounds, had been 
besieged by the early Indians in a great battle near 
the Falls of the Ohio. The remnant was driven into 
a small island below these rapids, where the entire 
race was ''cut to pieces." 

In confirmation of this, there was found on Sandy 
Island, a vast burying ground and "a multitude 
of human bones was discovered." This traditional 
testimony has been in many instances confirmed by 
unmistakable traces of a terrible conflict throughout 
the Ohio Valley. The story of these bloody battles, 
handed down for generations, very probably caused 
the Indians to name this place the ''Dark and Bloody 
Ground." Believing it to be filled with ghosts of its 
primitive people, it is no small wonder that this race, 
full of imagination and superstition, should use it so 
little as a permanent home. 

But who was this primitive race ? Whence did 
they come and what did they accomplish ^ The 
works they built have lived after them, and from 
these silent memorials the people have been called 
Mound Builders. Beyond the bounds of memory, 
into the land of mystery we go when we strive to learn 
of them. They have left their imprint in the valleys 
of the Licking, the Kentucky, the Ohio, and the Cum- 
berland. Their many mounds vary in size, shape, 
structure, location, contents, and use. Some cover 
only a small area, while others have a diameter of over 



14 THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY 

one hundred feet and one covers fifteen acres. They 
display a considerable knowledge of geometry, engineer- 
ing, and military skill. 

Because some have supposed these ancient people 
to have been sun worshipers, the ''high places" for 
ceremonial worship are called temple mounds. The 
fact that these are more numerous in Kentucky than 
elsewhere, may have given rise to the expressions 
** sacred soil" or "God's country." Within or near 
these inclosures are mounds containing altars of stone 
or burned clay, known as altar mounds ; the burial 
places, called mounds of sepulture, are isolated and 
contain human remains which shed more light on the 
character and achievements of this prehistoric race 
than any others. The military mounds, or works of 
defense, are usually near a waterway, often on a pre- 
cipitous height, in a commanding position, and with 
an extension ditch or moat ; the skill, the foresight, 
and the complete system shown by these would prove 
that there were fierce foes to be resisted and a vast 
population to be defended. 

It is possible that all agricultural work was done 
with "digging sticks." Fishing and hunting were 
accomplished by arrows, knives, and spears, chipped 
from stone or rubbed out of antlers, by fishhooks of 
bone, and by nets. There were also "animal calls" 
made from small mammal bones, and the hollow bones 
of the birds. The knives were probably chipped stone 
points, clamshells, or bear teeth ; there were also 



THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY 



15 



awls of bones, strainers of pottery, hammerstones, 

whetstones, chisels of bone, and needles from bones 

of small animals. Modeling, impressing, twisting, 

knitting, painting, and sculpture were carried on; 

personal ornaments, ^^ 

rattles, whistles, and ^f ^-»-^rsr-,< 

pipes were made. 

Moccasins, beads of 

pottery, bone, shell, 

teeth, and copper, and 

pottery of various 

sizes, shapes, and 

decoration were and 

sometimes are still 

found all along the ^c^A^^/ 

streams of the state. 

We know that they 
were an agricultural 
class because in some 
mounds were found remains of Indian corn and beans, 
also hickory nuts, butternuts, walnuts, chestnuts, hazel- 
nuts, and pawpaw seeds. 

While in some instances the graves were more or less 
surrounded by limestone slabs, in other places the 
dead were laid on skins or on the bare ground, and 
covered with skins and soil heaped above. As this soil 
had to be carried in baskets or skins, these immense 
mounds stand as mute memorials of their love for one 
another. 




Relics of the Mound Builders. 



i6 SOME PREHISTORIC REMAINS 

SOME PREHISTORIC REMAINS 

There are many curious natural formations in 
Kentucky ; yet the many artificial mounds also have 
added interest to the topography, and it is some- 
times difficult to distinguish where nature ends and 
art begins. 

The noted scientist, C. S. Rafinesque, claimed to 
have discovered one hundred and forty-eight ancient 
sites and over five hundred monuments in this state. 

The greater number of the mounds were small cone- 
like structures from five to ten or sometimes forty 
feet in height ; in several counties those of pyramid 
shape were found, and other counties contained un- 
usual structures. 

In Bourbon were found several sites, forty-six mon- 
uments, a circus of fourteen hundred and fifty feet, 
and a town whose stretch of walls measured four 
thousand six hundred and seventy-five feet. 

Hickman County had a teocalli, or temple, ten feet 
high, thirty feet wide, and four hundred and fifty feet 
long. 

Livingston with several sites and monuments had 
also an octagon whose walls measured twenty-eight 
hundred and fifty-two feet in length. 

In McCracken was found a teocalli fourteen feet 
high and twelve hundred feet long. 

Rockcastle had a stone grave three feet high, five 
feet wide, and two hundred feet long. 



SOME PREHISTORIC REMAINS 17 

Warren claimed a ditched town, octagonal in shape, 
measuring in perimeter one thousand three hundred 
and eighty-five feet. 

In Trigg was found a walled town with a circum- 
ference of seven thousand five hundred feet. 

A mound more than twent}^ feet high with a diameter 
of over one hundred feet was located m Montgomery. 

In Estill was located one fifteen feet high, one hun- 
dred and ninety-two feet in diameter, and surrounded 
by a moat ten feet deep and thirty-five feet wide. 

A horseshoe-shaped fort of about ten acres in area 
was found in Caldwell. Its curve was bordered by a 
perpendicular bluff of sixty feet, and the two points 
of the shoe were connected by a stone wall ten feet 
high and six hundred feet long, with a gateway eight 
feet wide. 

In Hickman, O'Bryan's fort; in Madison, a stone 
fort containing four or five hundred acres ; and in 
Greenup, an effigy mound representing a bear, '^ leaning 
forward, measuring fifty-three feet froiji the top of 
the back to the end of the fore leg and one hundred 
five and one half feet from the tip of the nose to the 
rear of the hind foot," with those already mentioned, 
give a faint idea of the variety of mounds in shape, 
size, and structure. Yet these are only a few of the 
m.an}' ancient remains in Kentucky of the Mound 
Builders who have left their imprint throughout our 
great central valley and whose wide range has left 
in the same mound ''the mica of the Alleghenies, the 

PURCELl's KENTUCKY 2 



1 8 THE DISCOVERY OF KENTUCKY 

obsidian of Mexico, the copper of the Great Lakes, 
and shells from the Gulf of the Southland." 

Since the location of these remains the plowshare 
has leveled many mounds, but several can yet be 
traced. 



THE DISCOVERY OF KENTUCKY 

Do you ever feel, when reading of the deeds of the 
early European navigators, who braved the perils 
of the trackless deep only to find on this shore a tangled 
"forest primeval," that our own beloved Kentucky 
is in every way far removed historically from them ? 

Since it is so interesting and edifying to find our- 
selves related to some noted personage, let us see if 
we can connect the "Dark and Bloody Ground" with 
the discoveries that opened up a new world. 

We must go back many, many years, yes, even to 
the Middle Ages, if we would see how and why we are 
at least a sm^ll link in the great chain of events that 
gradually gave to the western world one of its proudest 
commonwealths. Some one has said, "Westward the 
course of empire takes its way," but for centuries 
the people of Europe concerned themselves not with 
what lay to the west of them but with the people 
and problems of the East. This is easy to understand 
when we learn that the copper, lead, tin, and manu- 
factures of Europe were carried by traders, partly 
by sea and partly by land, to Constantinople or to 



THE DISCOVERY OF KENTUCKY 19 

Egypt, where they were exchanged for the luxuries 
that Asia had sent by vessels or camels. India and 
the Spice Islands sent cloves, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, 
mace, nutmeg, camphor, musk, aloes, and sandalwood, 
also diamonds and pearls. Cathay (China) sent silks, 
while Cipango, the island of mystery, in the great 




A caravan crossing the desert. 

ocean east of Cathay that no one had seen, was 
believed to be the richest of all. 

In 1453, while this exchange was at its height, the 
Turks conquered Constantinople, seized the caravan 
routes, and ruined the trade. Gold and pearls, ivory 
and diamonds, spices and silks, could no longer be se- 
cured unless a waterway could be found to the East. 

Prince Henry the Navigator, a Portuguese, though 
many of his captains thought that in the torrid zone 



20 THE DISCOVERY OF KENTUCKY 

the ocean was boiling and that flames filled the air, 
succeeded in reaching almost to the equator before 
his death in 1460. In 1487, Diaz continued the work 
to the Cape of Good Hope. Christopher Columbus, 
believing the earth a sphere, thought that b}' sailing 
due westward only two thousand five hundred miles 
he would reach China and India. So in August, 1492, 
after seeking aid in vain from Portugal, England, 
and his own country, he braved the "Sea of Darkness" 
in a Spanish ship. Though some Portuguese sailors 
had said, ''You might as well expect to find land in 
the sky as in that waste of waters," in October of the 
same year he made the discovery that gave to the 
world a new continent. 

Then the spirit of adventure and aggrandizement 
dominated the Spanish race. Ponce de Leon, Fer- 
nando Cortez, Pizarro, and Fernando de Soto con- 
tinued the work until June, 1543. Luis de Moscoso, 
the successor of de Soto, with a remnant of his once 
proud force, now reduced to about three hundred men, 
in boats descended the Mississippi River to its mouth ; 
from the boats they were the first white men to behold 
the land that is now Kentucky. 

England, so far, had been very quiet and con- 
servative about discovering, exploring, or settHng. 
Finally, English fishermen came to Newfoundland., 
Sir John Hawkins traded negroes for hides and pearls, 
and Sir Francis Drake ravaged the Caribbean coast 
and in 1 577-1 580 sailed aroynd the world. Soon Sir 



THE DISCOVERY OF KENTUCKY 21 

Humphre}^ Gilbert attempted colonization, which was 
taken up by his half brother, Sir Walter Raleigh, who 
sent two ships under Philip Amadas and Arthur Bar- 
lowe, who discovered the coast of North CaroHna. 
Upon their return, Queen Elizabeth named it Vir- 
gmia. Kentucky was included in the charter of 
this first colony, which was settled at Jamestown, 

1607. 

The first EngUshman to view what is now Kentucky 
was Colonel Wood, who in 1654, for commerce and not 
conquest, explored the northern boundary of Kentucky 
as far as the Mississippi River, then called the Mes- 
chacebe. Captain Bolt (or Batt) of Virginia in 1670 
came from that state into what is now Kentucky. In 
1673 Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, in 
company with Luis JoUet and five other Frenchmen 
in two canoes passed down the Mississippi along the 
western border of Kentucky and spent several days at 
the mouth of the Ohio, where Cairo, then called Oua- 
bouskigou, now stands. Again in February, 1682, 
Robert de la Salle and his lieutenant, Henri de Tonti, 
in company with several other Frenchmen, descended 
the lUinois River, and passed down the Mississippi, or 
Colbert, to its mouth, claiming the country on both 
sides for the French king, Louis the Great, in whose 
honor they called this vast tract Louisiana. 

It was as a prisoner among the Indians in 1730 that 
the first white native American, John Sailing of 
Virginia, was taken to Kentucky. In 1750 a party of 



22 INDIAN CLAIMS IN KENTUCKY 

Virginians, among them Dr. Thomas Walker, came by 
way of Powell's Valley through a gap in Laurel 
Mountain, into central Kentucky. He named both 
the mountain and the river (formerly the Shawnee) 
for England's "Bloody Duke" of Cumberland who 
defeated the Scottish forces at Culloden. Some say 
that near where they entered what is now the state of 
Kentucky these men built a rude cabin. 

But it was left for John Finley and party, 1767, to 
learn and love this wonderland of fertile soil, towering 
forests, luxuriant vegetation, and boundless supply 
of game. When he returned to North Carolina with 
such glowing accounts of this wilderness beyond the 
mountains, many were ready to leave the comforts of 
civilization for the dangers and privations of this land 
of promise. 

INDIAN CLAIMS IN KENTUCKY 

Though the Indians at the time of the coming of 
the white men used Kentucky mainly as a hunting 
ground instead of a home, various tribes laid claim to 
it by prior possession. 

In 1768, at Fort Stanwix — now Rome, New York 
— the English government purchased the title to all 
the lands lying between the Ohio and Tennessee 
rivers from the tribes of Indians called the Six Nations. 
This tract included the present state of Kentucky. 

Shortly after the battle of Point Pleasant, 1774, the 



SCOUWA 23 

Shawnees entered into a treaty with Governor Dun- 
more of Virginia whereby they gave up all title to the 
lands south of the Ohio River. 

At the Sycamore Shoals, of the Watauga River, 
1775, Colonel Richard Henderson, acting for the 
Transylvania Company, purchased the title of the 
Cherokees to this "hunting ground" for ten thousand 
pounds sterling. This purchase was afterwards de- 
clared null and void by the states of Virginia and 
North Carolina. 

Through the commissioners Isaac Shelby and 
Andrew Jackson, the general government in 181 8 
purchased from the Chickasaws, for an annuity of 
twenty thousand dollars to be paid for fifteen years, all 
their land lying in Tennessee and Kentucky between 
the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers. The part in 
Kentucky has since been called "Jackson's Purchase." 

Thus we see that Indian claims to Kentucky were 
relinquished only upon payment of money or blood. 

SCOUWA 

There lived in Pennsylvania in the early part of 
the eighteenth century a young man by the name of 
James Smith. A short while before General Brad- 
dock was defeated b}^ the French and Indians, Smith 
was taken prisoner by a band of Indians, and carried 
to the French fort where the cit}^ of Pittsburgh now 
stands. Here he was made to run the gantlet ; and so 



24 



SCOUWA 



well did the Indians, ranged on either side, use their 
clubs and sticks and stones, that Smith was badly 
beaten and made ill for a long time. 

The Indians then carried him to their home in Ohio, 
where an old chief pulled out the prisoner's hairs one 
by one; only a scalp lock was left which was orna- 
mented with feathers and silver brooches. His ears 



_^^vwV 










|iMi''''Blliil\4iilA\\iT^ mi^t^<f >ii^^ *m[ 



Scouwa \\d^ auuiii^d by the Indians. 

and nose were pierced and hung with silver rings, his 
face, head, and body were painted, and he was adorned 
with a breechcloth, chains of beads, a belt of wampum, 
and silver armlets. 

An old chief then made a speech to the other Indians, 
while he held Smith by the hand. The prisoner was 
then accompanied to the river by three young squaws 



SCOUWA 25 

who attempted to *'duck" him. Fearful of being 
drowned, Smith resisted until one of the women in 
broken English cried, "No hurt 3^ou, no hurt you." 

After "scrubbing all the white blood out of him," 
the}^ dressed him in a ruffled shirt, leggins, and moc- 
casins, presented him with a pipe, tobacco, pouch, 
flint, steel, and tomahawk and told him he had been 
adopted in place of a brave young chief who had 
fallen. 

The Indians called Smith " Scouwa." They finally 
gave him a gun to use and trusted him full}^, but be- 
cause he once lost his way in the woods, his gun was 
taken from him and for a long while he was permitted 
to use only a bow and arrow. 

Smith had some exciting experiences while living the 
life of an Indian. At one time, during a snowstorm, 
he took refuge all night in a hollow tree, and when he 
tried to move the block by which he had closed up 
the opening in the side of the tree, he found the snow 
was piled so deep against it he could not move it. 
He was badly frightened, but by pushing with all his 
strength he finally succeeded in getting out. 

At another time Smith, an old chief, and a little 
boy were alone in their hut in midwinter and all came 
near starving, but Smith walked many, many miles, 
hunting game, and thus saved the lives of all three. 

In 1759 the Indians that had adopted Smith jour- 
neyed to Canada; and as Canada then belonged to the 
French, and as the French and Indians were fighting 



26 SCOUWA 

the English, who then owned Pennsj^lvania, Smith 
sHpped away. Joining the prisoners that were to be 
sent back to Pennsylvania in exchange for some French 
the English held, he soon rejoined his family. He 
was a leader of the "Black Boys," served as lieutenant 
in General Henry Bouquet's expedition, and witnessed 
the Indian cruelties to the unfortunate British captives. 
In July, 1766, he learned that the king's agent, 
Sir William Johnson, had purchased from the Indians 
all the land west of the Appalachian Mountains, and 
between the Ohio and Cherokee (Tennessee) rivers. 
Having heard the red men tell of this rich land. Colonel 
James Smith, accorppanied by Joshua Horton, Uriah 
Stone, William Baker, and a mulatto slave of Horton's 
named Jamie, passed through Cumberland Gap, ex- 
plored the country south of the Kentucky River, and, 
striking the Cumberland, passed down its entire length 
to its junction with the Ohio. They were the first 
white men to explore southern and southwestern 
Kentucky, although not the first to visit it, for in 
1730 John Sailing of Virginia was brought a prisoner 
by the Cherokee Indians to the Tennessee. After 
reaching the mouth of the Cumberland, the others 
separated from Colonel Smith and the mulatto boy. 
These two were for a long time alone in the wilderness. 
When they again reached civilization they wore noth- 
ing that had been woven; and when they told of their 
experiences, people could hardly believe that any one 
could make that journey and live to return. 



THE GRAVEYARD OF THE MAMMOTHS 27 

A short distance below the mouth of the Cumber- 
land the town of "Old Smithland" was named in honor 
of this first white man to explore that region, and later 
the town was built just at the junction of the Cum- 
berland and Ohio and is now the capital of Livingston 
County. 

Smith spent the latter part of his life in Bourbon 
Count}^ where he was as useful in state councils as 
he had been in Indian conflicts. 



THE GRAVEYARD OF THE MAMMOTHS 

There are many places within the present bounds 
of Kentucky where animals used to go to lick the 
ground, in order to secure the salt therein, and these 
places were therefore called "licks." The most noted 
of these is in Boone County, and is called Big Bone 
Lick from the many gigantic bones that have been 
found there. 

In 1773, while leading a surveying party, a man 
b}^ the name of James Douglas, of Virginia, camped 
for several da3"s at this point. There he found a sur- 
face of ten acres entirely without trees or vegetable 
life of any kind, while scattered around were many 
bones both of the mastodon and the arctic elephant. 
The size of these gigantic, prehistoric animals may be 
conjectured from the descriptions given of the remains. 

Tusks were found from seven to eleven feet long, 
the latter being at the larger end six or seven inches 



28 THE DRUID OF KENTUCKY 

in diameter. Thigh bones, five feet in length ; teeth 
weighing ten pounds with crowns seven by five inches ; 
skulls, thought to be of young animals, measuring 
two feet between the eyes ; ribs from three to four 
inches broad and so long that James Douglas and his 
party used them for tent poles, are some of the won- 
ders that have given the name to this historic place. 
Scientists have decided from these remains that these 
ponderous animals belonged to the elephant family. 
Though possessing remarkable strength, they were 
so unwieldy that prehistoric man encountered little 
danger in combating them. It is the supposition 
that the early inhabitants who occupied this conti- 
nent when these marvelous animals roamed the woods, 
must have planned to exterminate them on their 
periodic visits to the lick. By what means this was 
accomplished we can only conjecture, but that there 
was a wholesale slaughter is evident, for at no other 
place have so many mammoth remains been found. 

THE DRUID OF KENTUCKY 

Daniel Boone was born in the almost unbroken 
forests of Pennsylvania, on February ii, 1735. With- 
out his energy, caution, and daring, Kentucky would 
not have been settled so soon. In both his native 
state and in North Carolina, he received in his boy- 
hood the training that was to fit him for the great 
work that was to be his. 



THE DRUID OF KENTUCKY 



29 



Truly "coming events cast their shadows before," 
for when barely large enough to shoulder the old 
family flintlock he found unbounded delight in roam- 
ing the woods and returning laden with his spoils, 
which at one time was the skin of an immense panther 
that he shot just as it was about to spring upon him. 




They found Boone in camp." 



While yet in his early teens he gave his family great 
alarm by being absent for two days and nights. A 
rescuing party was sent out, and they soon saw smoke 
rising in the distance ; proceeding, they found Boone 
in camp, his floor carpeted with the skins of animals 
he had slain, while the delicious odor of roasted meat 
filled the air. 



30 THE DRUID OF KENTUCKY 

Boone was in every way a typical backwoods- 
man. His education was limited to an imperfect 
knowledge of the "three R's," gained in the rude 
school cabin of round logs, puncheon seats, and dirt 
floor. Ever the solitude of the sylvan forests was 
far more enjoyable to him than the refinements of 
civilization. 

In 1755 he was married to Rebecca Br3^an, who 
with him shared much of the danger and hardships 
of frontier life. 

In 1769, yielding to the siren song sung by John 
Finley of the far-famed cane land with its fertile soil, 
towering mountains, limpid streams, and rich meadow- 
lands where the spoils of the chase were venison, bear, 
and buffalo, Boone left his family and friends on the 
Yadkin in North Carolina and came with Finley and 
four others to explore this marvelous land of " Ken- 
tuckee." 

Reaching the Red River, five miles from its junction 
with the Kentucky, these pioneers pitched their 
camp and from June until December reveled in the 
delights of hunting and exploring in this Eden of the 
wilderness; but one day, near Christmas, Boone and 
a companion named Stewart, while out hunting, 
were captured by the Indians and for six days and 
nights were marched and guarded. At length, be- 
lieving their captives were contented, the savages 
relaxed their watchfulness, yielded to sleep, and Boone 
and Stewart escaped. Upon their return to camp 



THE DRUID OF KENTUCKY 3 1 

they found it plundered and their companions gone. 
What became of them Boone never knew. 

Soon after, Boone and Stewart were surprised by 
meeting Squire Boone, a brother of Daniel, and another 
man from North Carolina. A few days later Stewart 
was shot and scalped ; the man who came with Squire 
Boone tired of the perils and returned home. The 
two brothers were left alone in the vast wilderness, 
hundreds of miles from any settlement and with no 
weapon but the trusty rifle and tomahawk to protect 
them from the cunning savage, the ravenous wolf, 
and the crafty panther. When their ammunition 
began to run low, Squire Boone retraced his steps to 
Carolina for a fresh supply, while Daniel remained 
alone until July, when his brother returned. Together 
they roamed at will, tracing the streams, hunting 
game, and enjoying this romantic woodland. 

Having been absent from his family for three years, 
simply for the joys of the frontier, and having lived 
upon the meat of wild animals, the fruits and roots 
of the forest without either bread or salt, Boone re- 
turned in 1771 to the Yadkin and so thrilled all with 
his glowing description of this land of promise that, 
when two years later he started with his family to 
this forest, five other families and fortv men accom- 
panied them. The women riding, the children driv- 
ing the cattle and hogs, with bedding and baggage 
strapped on pack horses, the men with trusty rifles 
forming both advance and rear guards, this little 



32 



THE DRUID OF KENTUCKY 




A PIONEER NOBLEMAN 33 

cavalcade started forth to conquer the wilderness. 
All went well for a while, but, when near the Cumber- 
land Mountains, they were attacked by Indians, and 
six men were killed, among them Boone's oldest son. 
Yielding to the others, Boone returned with the party 
to the Clinch River in southwestern Virginia, where 
the}^ remained until 1774. 

For twenty 3^ears Boone was a notable figure in 
this untried forest, prudent, calm, honest, courageous, 
cunning; a stranger to fear, a devotee to duty, an 
honored leader, he has so left his impress upon our 
state that the record of this period of his life is Ken- 
tucky history. 



A PIONEER NOBLEMAN 

During the eighteenth century, many men, singly 
or in companies, enjoyed the beauties of the forest 
scenes of Kentucky. Always they carried back to 
the centers of civilization the most glowing accounts 
of hill and dale and stream, of the abundance of game 
and fish, of the fertility of the soil, and of the glorious 
monarchs of the forest. These hardy woodsmen 
had the inherent love of Nature in her wildest, most 
gorgeous aspects. They were pioneers, hunters, and 
trappers. To some these terms conve\' only the 
thought of rough, unsophisticated men with none of 
the benevolent qualities of head or heart, with no 

PURCELL's KENTUCKY. 3 



34 A PIONEER NOBLEMAN 

magnanimity of spirit for a friend and nothing but 
the most intense hatred for a foe. But the Hves of 
some of these frontiersmen furnish incidents from 
which we might well take lesson. 

One of these, James Harrod, though unable to write 
his name, has so indelibly impressed it upon the annals 
of the early times that as long as history is read he 
will be famous. In May, 1774, Captain Harrod with 
about thirty men descended the Monongahela and 
the Ohio in canoes to the mouth of the Kentucky 
River. Penetrating the forest, they built the first 
log cabin ever erected in Kentucky, at the place where 
Harrodsburg now stands. Here a town was laid off 
and called Harrodstown. After four or five cabins 
had been built depredations of the Indians caused 
them to be deserted until the following spring, when 
Harrod with many of his former comrades and several 
others returned. This place was subsequently called 
Oldtown and later Harrodsburg, fittingly commemorat- 
ing the grand pioneer who built not only the first 
cabin but the first town in our commonwealth. 

James Harrod was by nature endowed with all the 
qualities of a great leader; he is described as tall 
and commanding, energetic and fearless, honest and 
generous, ignorant yet intelligent. Inured to difficul- 
ties and dangers, familiar with the forest, skillful with 
his rifle, he was a success as a hunter, but a terror to 
his foes. He was a real leader of the pioneers. In the 
words of Marshall, " He always had a party, not because 



A PIONEER NOBLEMAN 35 

he wanted a part}^, but because the part}^ wanted him." 
Unremitting in the care of his companions, unrelenting 
in his attacks on the "red rascals," untiring in serv- 
ices to his neighbors and friends, he was truly a 
nobleman, with a lofty yet gentle spirit. " If news 
came of an Indian massacre, he snatched his gun 
and ran at the head of the party ; if he knew of a 
family left destitute, he shouldered his rifle and ranged 
the forest till he found the game to supply their needs ; 
if he heard of a horse being lost he stopped not till 
he drove him to his owner's gate." Thus he was 
known by his contemporaries. Yet he seemed not 
to be ambitious. Only as a delegate from Harrods- 
town and as a colonel of the militia is he found in 
civil affairs. But the magnanimity of his spirit shone 
forth at all times. 

There is one incident related of him that proves 
him as chivalrous as any knight of old. He was at 
one time so closely pursued by some Indians that 
he plunged into a swollen stream and, holding his 
rifle above the water with one hand and swimming 
with the other, reached the farther shore in safety. 
Two of the redskins, bolder than the others, followed. 
When the foremost was about midstream a shot from 
Harrod's rifle caused him to disappear with a cry of 
pain beneath the rushing torrent ; the other gave 
up the chase. 

Several hours afterward, when Harrod had reached 
a point a few miles below where he had crossed the 



36 



A PIONEER NOBLEMAN 



stream, he was astonished to see a warrior slowly 
and painfully draw himself upon a pile of drift- 




With 



extended, Harrod stepped in view." 



wood and attempt to apply a rude bandage to his 
shoulder down which the blood was flowing. Har- 
rod at once knew that this was the same Indian who 
had hotly pursued him and that the wound was from 



EARLY KENTUCKY CUSTOMS 37 

his own rifle shot. Most men at such a time would 
have relentlessly shot their adversary. Such a thought 
never entered the mind of James Harrod. He at once 
resolved to assist his disabled foe. Cautiously he 
stole to one of the trees on the bank a few yards from 
where the Indian sat, and, laying aside rifle, toma- 
hawk, and knife, he stepped suddenly in view, with 
arms extended to show he was unarmed and meant 
no harm. The startled Indian was about to plunge 
again into the water, when a second glance assured 
him no immediate harm was meant, for not only was 
the white man unarmed but his kindly countenance 
convinced the Indian no wrong was intended. Yet 
so strange was such a proceeding to the savage, that 
while he permitted his former enemy to approach, yet 
he watched him as would a wounded wild animal, 
ready at any moment to seek refuge in the rushing 
waters. 

Harrod, finding the Indian weak from loss of blood, 
gently assisted him to the shore, tore off" a bandage 
from his own clothing, dressed the wound, and taking 
him upon his back, carried him several miles to a 
cave, where he nursed him until he was able to rejoin 
his tribe. 

EARLY KENTUCKY CUSTOMS 

When the bands of hardy pioneers pushed into the 
wilderness and prepared a way into Kentucky they 
brought with them only the trusty rifle, the ax, the 



38 EARLY KENTUCKY CUSTOMS 

tomahawk, and the "long knife" for protecting them- 
selves from the wily savages and securing food from 
the game that roamed the woods. 

When their families came, a few more articles were 
brought along; but their outfits were necessarily 
meager. When they stopped to prepare their food, 
a flat stone was used for cooking the "journey cake," 
while bark served for dishes. 

As soon as the destination was reached, a log cabin 
of rough unhewn timbers was built, containing a long 
pen of split logs placed in a row, which, filled with 
fresh boughs, was a welcome resting place for those 
who were wearied from traveling. Later the feathers 
of wild pigeons, ducks, and geese were made into 
feather beds. 

Usually several people settled at the same place 
and built a fort of cabins, stockades, and blockhouses, 
arranged in a hollow square. The blockhouses were 
two stories high, the upper story projecting over the 
lower one for eighteen or more inches. The places 
of entrance to the fort were closed by large folding 
gates of thick slabs, and the entire outer wall made 
bullet proof, all without a single nail or piece of iron. 
Some of the cabins had puncheon floors while others 
had only the bare earth. 

There were very few metal utensils ; tin cups, iron 
forks, and spoons were very rare. Nearly all their 
tools were fashioned of wood, by their own hands. 

There were no mills, but each family had a hominy 



EARLY KENTUCKY CUSTOMS 



39 



block or wooden bowl with pestle, in which the Indian 

corn was pounded, or a rough homemade grater on 

which it was grated. 

Their brooms were made 

of hickory saplings split 

at one end into line 

splinters for several 

inches ; these were 

bound together at the 

top with a green withe, 

while the other end of 

the pole served as a 

handle. 

Their lye was all 
made at home by pour- 
ing water several times 
through a hopper of 
ashes until it became a 
reddish-brown ; bear's 
grease was added to this 




Making brooms. 



and the mixture boiled until it became a soft mass 
called soap. We of to-day would dislike very much 
to use it in bathing. 

Their salt was precious, for eight hundred gallons 
of salt water boiled down made only one bushel ; if 
that amount was bought, it cost twenty dollars. 

In the spring they bored holes in the maple trees, 
from which flowed a sap or sweet water that when 
boiled down made maple sirup and maple sugar. 



40 



EARLY KENTUCKY CUSTOMS 



In those days of danger the men built the cabins, 
garrisoned the forts, hunted the game, felled the 






rf\'i , f( 




Pioneers building a log palisade. 

trees, mauled the rails, grubbed the roots and bushes, 
and tilled the soil. 

The women did the household duties, brought the 
water, gathered the wild nettles, and from the silky 



BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 41 

fibers in the leaves spun and wove the flax from which 
they made their clothing. They tanned the deer- 
skins by means of hardwood ashes and from them 
made moccasins and shoepacks, for there was no 
place to buy shoes ; they made for the men the his- 
torical hunting shirt of deerskin, linsey-woolsey, or 
coarse, home-woven linen. This garment served va- 
rious purposes ; the bosom was so designed as to form 
a wallet in which to carry bread, jerk, parched corn, 
or tow for cleaning guns. This shirt was held to- 
gether by a belt which was tied behind ; in the front 
of this belt they carried their bullet bags and mittens, 
while on one side hung the scalping knife in its leather 
sheath, and on the other, the tomahawk. Breeches, 
leggins, and moccasins of deerskin and hats or caps 
of fur, often adorned with the animal's tail, com- 
pleted the costume of the men. The women wore 
dresses of linsey-woolsey and coarse flax. 

So the rude pioneer home, with its lack of con- 
veniences and space and its few rude, imperfect tools, 
was the factory where were prepared not only the 
clothing and food, but also the furniture and the 
medicine. 

BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 

Among the hardy backwoodsmen, fearless hunters, 
and brave fighters, there looms no nobler figure than 
that of Simon Kenton, born of humble, Scotch-Irish 
parents in Virginia, April 13, 1755. At sixteen he 



42 BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 

was a stalwart youth with scarcely any education, 
with a kind heart but unrestrained emotions. Having 
fallen very much in love with a beautiful girl of his 
neighborhood, and having lost her to a successful 
rival, he went as an uninvited guest to the wedding 
festivities, where he made himself so disagreeable that 
the infuriated groom and his brothers gave him a 
severe beating. 

Shortly after this, meeting his former rival, William 
Veach, Kenton provoked a fight and was so much the 
physical superior that soon his adversary fell bruised, 
bleeding, and unconscious ; kind-hearted Kenton, feel- 
ing that he had been cruel in his treatment, lifted 
up the head of his insensible victim, spoke to him, 
but receiving no reply, thought him dead. Much 
alarmed, he left the seemingly lifeless body and fled 
to the woods. Feeling himself a murderer and a 
fugitive from justice, he warily made his way to Cheat 
River, where he changed his name to Simon Butler, 
and worked long enough to secure a gun and ammuni- 
tion. 

In order to lose himself and forget his trouble 
in the western wilderness, he joined a party to Fort 
Pitt, where he hunted for the garrison and forts, and 
met Simon Girty, who afterwards saved his life. Two 
others, George Yeager and John Strader, came with 
him that autumn on his first visit to Kentucky, lured 
on by the glowing accounts of the "cane land" that 
Yeager had heard of from the Indians. They came 



BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 



43 



down the Ohio to the mouth of the Kentucky, but 
soon returned to the Big Kanawha, where they camped, 
hunted, and trapped until March, 1773. Yeager 
was killed by the Indians, and Kenton and Strader 
fled to the woods barefooted and almost naked, with 
no food and no weapons. For six days they wan- 
dered weary, footsore, and hungry, until finally in 
despair they lay down to die. Gathering hope anew, 
they pressed on and near the Ohio met some hunters 
who gladly gave them food and clothing. 

Going with them, Kenton worked for another rifle 
and in the summer of the same year went down the 
Ohio with a party in search of Captain Bullitt. They 
failed to find him and the party returned through the 
wilds of Kentucky to Virginia with Kenton as guide. 

During the winter of 1773-1774, Kenton hunted on 
the Big Sandy, but volunteered and soon saw active 
service as a scout and spy in the armies of Lord Dun- 
more and General Lewis in the Miami Indian War. 
He received an honorable discharge in the autumn, 
and the next spring, yielding to the longing for the 
"cane land," he came down the Ohio and one night 
reached Cabin Creek a few miles above Maysville. 
The next day, when he beheld the far-famed land, he 
was entranced, and soon encamped near the present 
site of Washington, in Mason County, where he and 
his companion cleared an acre of ground and planted 
it with corn which they had bought from a French 
trader. 



44 BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 

They found this place a veritable "hunter's para- 
dise" where the hills were covered with herds of deer, 
elk, and buffalo. 

One day meeting two men, Hendricks and Fitz- 
patrick, who were without food or guns, Kenton in- 
vited them to join his station. Hendricks accepted, 
but his companion, desiring to return to Virginia, 
was accompanied by Kenton and Williams to the 
Ohio. They left Hendricks alone at the camp. On 
returning they found the camp in disorder and Hen- 
dricks gone; the next day his charred remains told 
the story of his sufferings at the hands of the savages. 

Though Kenton left this place the following autumn, 
he returned nine years later and, building a blockhouse 
here, established Kenton's Station. 

Simon Kenton was ever alert, ever ready to respond 
to the call for help, ever ready to encounter danger, 
and ever ready to give his services to the settlers 
whether at Harrodstown or Hinkson's, whether in aid 
of Boone or Clark. 

At one time Kenton was one of six spies who, two 
at a time, each week ranged up and down the Ohio 
and around the deserted stations, watching for Indian 
signs; for the red savage had become infuriated be- 
cause the "long knife "^ had taken possession of his 
beloved "Kaintuckee," and the Indian invasions 
were frequent and bloody. 

^ The name given the white men by the Indians on account of the long 
knives they carried in their belts. 



BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 



45 



One morning as Kenton with two companions was 
standing in the gate at Boonesborough read}^ for a 
hunt, the Indians fired on some men in the field, who 
fled to the fort. One man, however, was overtaken, 
tomahawked, and scalped within seventy yards of 







Boone was borne on Kenton's shoulders into the fort." 



the gate. Kenton shot the savage dead and in the 
battle which ensued killed two other Indians, one 
of whom was about to tomahawk Colonel Boone, 
who had been crippled. The unerring rifle of Kenton 
stayed his savage hand, and Boone was borne on 
Kenton's shoulders into the fort. When the gate was 
barred and all was secure, the usually reserved Boone 



46 BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 

said, "Well, Simon, you have behaved yourself like 
a man to-day; indeed you are a fine fellow." 

Kenton accompanied General George Rogers Clark 
in his expedition against Kaskaskia in 1778, then 
proceeded to Vincennes, where, by a three days' secret 
observation, he secured an accurate description of 
the place which he sent to General Clark. 

Kenton returned to Harrodstown, aided Boone in 
defending the stations, and in September, 1778, was 
taken a prisoner, a few miles below Maysville, by the 
Indians, who beat him until their arms were too tired 
to indulge in this amusing pastime any longer. They 
then placed him upon the ground on his back, drew 
his feet apart, lashed each to a strong sapling, laid a 
pole across his breast, tied his hands to each end, and 
lashed his arms to it with thongs which were tied 
around his body ; then they tied another thong around 
his neck and fastened it to a stake driven in the ground. 
Thus he was forced to pass the night. The next morn- 
ing he was painted black and carried toward Chilli- 
cothe, where they said they would burn him at the 
stake. 

As a diversion they one day tied him securely on 
an unbroken horse, which they turned loose to run 
through the woods at will. Through undergrowth, 
among trees and patches of briers, the horse capered, 
pranced, plunged, and ran, trying in vain to discharge 
his load until finally he stopped from sheer exhaustion. 
Kenton was destitute of clothing, bruised, bleeding, 



BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 47 

and almost lifeless. Arriving at the village, the}^ tied 
their distinguished prisoner to the stake, where he was 
left for twenty-four hours, expecting every moment 
that the torch would be applied. After enduring this 
agom^ he was forced to run the gantlet, where six 
hundred Indians were ranged on either side with 
switches, clubs, and sticks, and each gave him a blow 
as he passed. Kenton had been told if he reached 
the council house he would be set free. When he had 
almost reached the door of deliverance he was knocked 
insensible. Again he was made a prisoner, was taken 
from town to town, eight times was compelled to run 
the gantlet, three times tied to the stake, and once 
almost killed by a powerful blow with an ax. 

Once Simon Girty, the notorious renegade, remem- 
bering their former friendship, saved him from the 
flames ; again Logan, the Mingo chief, interposed, 
stayed the fury of the savages, and persuaded a 
Canadian trader named Drury to buy him from his 
captors. Drury took him to Detroit, and delivered him 
to the British commander, where he received humane 
treatment until 1779. Then a Mrs. Harvey, the 
wife of an Indian trader, while a crowd of Indians 
were drunk, took three of their guns and hid them 
in a patch of peas in her garden. At midnight Ken- 
ton, following her directions, secured them, and with 
two other Kentuck}^ prisoners hastened to a hollow 
tree some distance from the town, where ammuni- 
tion, food, and clothing had been placed by the same 



48 



BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER 



benefactress. The three fugitives after thirty-three 
days of incredible suffering reached Louisville. 

Later, with General George Rogers Clark in com- 
mand, Kenton, the great scout and spy, piloted the 
Kentuckians, when in 1780 they carried the war into 
the Indian's own country. 

During all these dangers there had ever been the 
horrible feeling that he was a fugitive and a murderer; 
but meeting by chance some one from his boyhood 
home, Simon Kenton learned that his former rival, 

William Veach, was still alive. 
He resumed his rightful name, 
hastened home, made friends 
with Veach, and started with 
his father and family again 
to this great paradise of the 
West. 

Kenton, so great in all the 
qualifications of the pioneer, 
was not schooled in the arts 
of civilization. His ignorance, 
coupled with his great confi- 
dence in men, which amounted 
almost to credulity, caused him to lose most of his 
valuable lands ; but at last the legislature of Ken- 
tucky made some reparation to the old, heroic soldier 
whose deeds and daring will ever furnish ennobling 
themes for song and story. 




BOONE'S TRACE 49 

BOONE'S TRACE 

Though Kentucky was not the home, but merely 
the hunting grounds, of most of the Indians, yet there 
were varied and conflicting claims. 

While the Six Nations sold their title to this vast 
area to the British, and the Shawnees at last relin- 
quished their rights, still the Cherokees pressed their 
claim until Henderson's company, composed of nine 
men of education and ability from North Carolina, 
purchased from them, in 1775, at the Watauga River, 
about seventeen million acres of land for ten thousand 
pounds (^50,000). This company hoped to found a 
colony and sell land to immigrants. They named 
this region Transylvania — "bej^ond the woods." 

Later, this purchase was declared by both Virginia 
and North Carolina to be null and void, and the plan 
was abandoned. Before this, however, Daniel Boone 
had been sent to open up a trace or road from the 
Holston River to the mouth of Otter Creek on the 
Kentucky River, where later Boonesborough was built 
and the first legislature in Kentucky was held. 

This road was to be for the travel of men and pack 
horses, the pioneer's train. Hastening forward with 
his brother. Squire Boone, Colonel Richard Calloway, 
and several others — thirty in all — Daniel Boone 
began to "blaze the way" in the wilderness for the 
countless thousands who were to come after them. 

Beginning at Watauga, the trace led to the Cum- 

PURCELL's KENTUCKY 4 



50 BOONE'S TRACE 

berland Gap, where it joined the "Warrior's Path," 
which it followed for about fifty miles northward ; 
from this place it followed a buffalo trace to the 
northwest until it reached the Kentucky River. 

Blazing the trees with their hatchets, cutting their 
way through dead brush, removing undergrowth, 
chopping through cane and reed, the party proceeded 
on their perilous journey. Within about fifteen miles 
of their destination, while asleep in camp, they were 
attacked by the Indians. Later they were again 
fired upon by the savages, when two of the white men 
were killed and three wounded. Here, five miles 
south of Richmond, from necessity was erected the first 
fort in Kentucky. This stockade fort was called Fort 
Twetty, as here Captain Twetty died and was buried. 

Pushing on, Boone and his companions reached the 
site selected, and soon constructed a stockade fort of 
two cabins, connected by palisades. This formed the 
nucleus of the fort, which was completed in about 
two months and which was named Boonesborough. 

The trace or road opened by Boone has had various 
names ; it has been called ''Boone's Trace" or ''Boone's 
Trail," "the Virginia Road," "the Road to Caintuck," 
"the Kentucky Road," and "the Wilderness Road." 
This last name was given from the great wilderness of 
laurel thickets between the Cumberland Gap and the 
settlements in Kentucky, a length of two hundred 
miles without a single habitation. 

Along this difficult highway a narrow and often zigzag 



BOONE'S TRACE 51 

path in the forest, six hundred miles in length, came the 
countless men, women, and children from Virginia who 
were to found this great commonwealth of Kentucky, 
a worthy daughter of a most worthy mother. 

When the legislature of Kentucky in 1795 passed 
an act for enlarging to the width of thirty feet that 
part of Boone's Trace between Crab Orchard and 
Cumberland Gap, and advertised for bids on it, the 
old pioneer, who had been the *' Pathfinder" of the 
West in this new Eldorado, sent to Governor Isaac 
Shelby the following characteristic letter : 

fehurey the iith 1796, 
Sir 

after my Best Respts to your Excelancy and famyly 
I wish to inform you that I have sum intention of under- 
taking this New Rode that is to he cut through the Wil- 
derness and I think My self intiteled to the ofer of the 
Bisness as I first Marked out that Rode in March 7775 
and Never Re'd anything for my trubel and Sepose I 
am No statesman I am a Woodsman and think My 
self as capable of Marking and Cutting that Rode as 
any other man Sir if you think with Me I would thank 
you to Wright Mee a Line By the Post the first oppor- 
tuneaty and he Will Lodge it at Mr. John Miler son 
hinkston fork as I wish to know where and when it is 
to be laat {let) So that I may atend at the time 

I am Deer Sir your very omble sarvent 

Daniel Boone 
To his Excelancy governor Shelby, 



52 BOONE IN CAPTIVITY 

The grim old veteran did not secure the contract, 
but his name is inseparabh^ Hnked with this thorough- 
fare, the opening of which was of inestimable value 
to the infant empire beyond the mountains. 

BOONE IN CAPTIVITY 

On New Year's Day, 1778, Daniel Boone with 
thirty companions left Boonesborough for the Blue 
Licks, to make a year's supply of salt for the garrisons. 

A few weeks later, while hunting several miles from 
the camp, he was overtaken by a party of one hundred 
Indians and attempted to escape. The fleet warriors, 
needing a white captive to give them information 
about Boonesborough, instead of shooting Boone as 
he ran, gave chase and captured the hard}^ backwoods- 
man. 

Now all the cunning of Boone was sorely needed. 
He wished to prevent if possible the capture of the 
salt makers and to postpone the march of the savages 
on the garrison. How the wih^ old hunter managed 
we do not know. But he finally secured the promise 
of the Indians that if the party at Blue Licks would 
surrender, they would be well treated as prisoners 
and their lives spared. Arriving at Blue Licks, Boone 
made signs to the white men to surrender without 
resistance; this they did, and the promise made by the 
Indians to Boone was sacredly kept. 

Three of the white men managed to escape ; when 



BOONE IN CAPTIVITY 53 

the Indians had gone, they returned, hid the kettles, 
and carried home the salt, as well as the news of the 
captivity of Boone and his companions. 

The prisoners were marched through severe weather 
to the principal Shawnee town, old Chillicothe, on 
the Little Miami River in Ohio. In March, Boone 
and ten others were carried to Detroit, where the 
British commander. Governor Hamilton, offered the 
Indians £ioo sterhng for Boone, intending to send 
him home on parole. But Boone had so won the 
hearts of his dusky captors that they would not 
patiently listen to any plan that would take him 
from among them. The great hunter had to feign 
contentment and not wound the feelings or excite 
the suspicion of his captors. 

Leaving the other prisoners at Detroit, the savages 
returned to their capital with Boone, whom they soon 
adopted into one of the principal families. Although 
they plucked out his hairs, one by one, except the 
scalp lock of about three inches on the crown ; although 
he was taken into the river and given a scrubbing, 
"to take out all his white blood"; although he was 
harangued by the chief about the great honor shown him ; 
and although he was frightfully painted and bedecked 
in feathers, — through it all he appeared content and 
thus still more endeared himself to the Indians. 

After this the Indians would challenge him to shoot- 
ing matches, in which he was cautious not to excel 
them too often, for fear of arousing their envy or 



54 



BOONE IN CAPTIVITY 




" Boone was frightfully painted and bedecked in feathers. 



BOONE IN CAPTIVITY 55 

jealousy, but would beat them often enough to excite 
their admiration. 

Boone was very careful to show respect and loyalty 
to the leading chief, to favor him often with the spoils 
of the hunt, and thus lead all to believe that he was 
happy to have cast his lot among them. 

This apparent contentment was only another evi- 
dence of what a silent stoic Boone could be, for his 
every thought was with his family and friends ; but 
to serve them as well as to save himself, he must 
pretend pleasure in his lot. 

Returning one day in June from where a party of 
the Indians had carried him to make salt for them, 
the old hunter found a party of nearly five hundred 
warriors ready to march on his beloved Boonesborough. 
Now Boone felt that his captivity served a good pur- 
pose, for he determined at all hazards to escape and 
warn the garrison. 

The Indians had so relaxed their vigilance over 
him that he was able to effect this resolve. Rising 
at the usual hour on June i6, he went out ostensibly 
to hunt, but so great was his anxiety that he made 
no attempt to kill anything to eat, but hastened on 
over the perilous trip of one hundred and sixty miles 
and reached home in four days. During this time 
he ate only one meal, the food he had hidden in his 
blanket. He was joyfully received like one risen 
from the dead, though his family, thinking him killed, 
had returned to North Carolina. 



56 BOONESBOROUGH'S BRAVE DEFENSE 

The fort was in a defenseless condition, but the 
return of their old leader, the news he brought, and 
the confidence he inspired, soon put all in readiness 
to receive the enemy. 

BOONESBOROUGH'S BRAVE DEFENSE 

Finding their captive gone, the Indians delayed 
their march on Boonesborough, until, impatient to 
fight the foe, Colonel Boone with nineteen others, 
among whom was Simon Kenton, started in August 
to attack the Indians at Paintcreektown, in Ohio. 
When within about four miles of the place, Kenton, 
who was in advance, was surprised and startled by 
hearing loud laughter from a canebrake just before 
him. He had scarcely secreted himself when two 
Indians, seated on a pony, one facing the animal's 
head, the other his tail, dashed by his place of con- 
cealment. Kenton fired, both savages fell, one killed, 
the other severely wounded. As Kenton was taking 
the latter's scalp he was suddenly surrounded by about 
thirty Indians, who were at once dispersed by the 
arrival of Boone and his party. 

Boone, dispatching spies, at once learned that the 
Indian town was deserted ; so he lost no time in re- 
tracing his steps to Boonesborough, which he reached 
one day in advance of the Indian army, led by Cap- 
tain Duquesne, a Canadian Frenchman. The in- 
vading army, four hundred strong, appeared flying 



BOONESBOROUGH'S BRAVE DEFENSE 57 

the British colors. The savage warriors, painted in 
hideous colors, paraded in two Hnes, giving the most 
bloodcurdhng yells and brandishing their guns. It 
was enough to try the stoutest heart. 

Soon a large negro stepped in front of the line and 
in English called for ''Captain Boone," but there 
was no reply. Again he said he wanted to speak 
to Captain Boone, and if he would come out, he would 
not be hurt. 

The men in the fort objected to their leader's going, 
but Boone, armed with a pipe and a flag, went out 
alone, leaving instructions that if he was made prisoner 
his men should shut the fort and defend it to the last. 

In about one hour he returned, telling his compan- 
ions that the Indians had promised that if he would 
surrender the fort he and his companions would not 
be hurt. To pacify the Indians he had seemed to 
assent to this plan, promising to return the next day, 
and inform them of the result of his conference with 
his companions. 

When the little band of less than fifty fighting men 
met in council and learned that they could make a 
manly defense with small chance of success, and if de- 
feated they would become victims of savage barbarity, 
or they could surrender at once, become prisoners, and 
be stripped of their effects, the deliberation was short, 
the answer prompt, and voiced by each : 

"We are determined to defend our fort as long as a 
man of us lives." 



58 BOONESBOROUGH'S BRAVE DEFENSE 

The next day Boone again met the assaulters and 
asked for another day in which to secure the assent 
of the remainder in the fort, to surrender. 

The time thus gained was improved by making every 
preparation possible ; they collected the cattle and 
horses, fastened the gate with bars, and in every way 
made ready for the conflict. 

The next morning, from one of the bastions of the 
fort, Colonel Boone made known to the commander 
of his adversaries the determination of the garrison, 
at the same time thanking them for the time in which 
to prepare his defense. 

Disappointment was plainly evident in the coun- 
tenance of Duquesne; he did not at once give up 
hope of a capitulation, but decided if possible to 
entrap Boone. He declared that in his order from 
Governor Hamilton he was told simply to take the 
white people as prisoners of war, neither to rob nor 
destroy them. If nine of the principal men would 
come out and treat with them, there would be no 
violence ; they would only return with the prisoners 
or, if they would swear allegiance and accept the 
protection of the British king, they would be set 
free. 

Boone felt this was one more chance to save his men 
from slaughter. The conference was called about sixty 
yards from the gate of the fort ; the articles were read, 
agreed upon, and signed. Then the commander said 
that among the Indians it was customary on such 



BOONESBOROUGH'S BRAVE DEFENSE 



59 



occasions to show their sincerity by two Indians shak- 
ing each white man by the hand. Boone agreed to this. 
At once two Indians approached each of the nine white 




The fight now began in earnest. 



men and as they took his hand attempted to seize and 
make him prisoner. The white men with great strength 
sprang away, and fled to the fort amid a shower of 
bullets from Indians in ambush, who came rushing 
up with the most terrifying yells. All reached the fort 
in safety with the exception of one wounded man. 



6o BOONES BOROUGH'S BRAVE DEFENSE 

The fight now began in earnest, and lasted nine 
days. The enemy tried various ways to overcome 
the garrison. At one time they secreted a part of 
their force under the bank of the Kentucky, attacked 
the fort on the opposite side, and finally pretended 
to retreat ; this ruse failing, they began to undermine 
the houses by excavating under the river bank and 
digging toward the fort. This was discovered by 
the muddy water caused by the great quantity of 
the loose earth they were compelled to throw into the 
river. Boone at once began to dig a trench within 
the fort, and as the loose dirt was taken up it was 
thrown over the fort wall. Finding their plan was 
discovered, the Indians abandoned it, but that night 
attempted to fire the fort by pitching torches of cane 
and hickory bark upon it. A rain had fallen a few 
hours before and the wet logs did not burn easily, 
and the flames were soon extinguished by the whites. 
Next day finding that they could not conquer by 
"force or fraud" and that their stock of provisions 
was almost exhausted, they paraded and withdrew 
after thirty-seven had been killed in sight of the fort 
and many others wounded. In the fort there were 
only four wounded. 

After the savages had gone the white men picked 
up one hundred and twenty-five pounds of leaden 
bullets which had fallen near the fort walls, besides 
the vast number that had lodged in the walls and 
palisades. 



THE LOST BABY 6l 



THE LOST BABY 



If your baby brother or sister should be lost, even 
though our country is thickly peopled and we have a 
perfect network of telephones and telegraphs across 
it, think how alarmed you would feel! Yet think 
how much more anxious a mother would be if her 
baby were lost in a wilderness where wolves, wild- 
cats, and panthers roamed hungry and fierce. 

This really happened to a baby boy named Bennie 
Craig. His father, Benjamin Craig, who presented 
his commission as a magistrate at the first county 
court held in Gallatin County, 1799, left Virginia 
in 1781 with his wife and three children. In those 
early days people traveled on foot or horseback, carry- 
ing with them what household necessities they could 
by means of pack horses. 

The men and larger boys generally walked ahead, 
to be sure no Indians lurked in ambush ; the smaller 
boys and girls drove the cows and sheep, and watched 
to keep them from wandering off through the woods; 
while the women rode horseback, having tied on the 
backs of the horses all the absolutely necessary house- 
hold utensils. 

In this party the usual plan of travel prevailed. 
Mrs. Craig and baby Bennie were on one horse, 
followed by another loaded with meal, bacon, salt, 
and skillets and tools; another one of these pack 
horses had, strapped across its back, some hickory 



62 THE LOST BABY 

withes holding on each side a basket made of the 
boughs of the same tree. These baskets carried what 
bedding and clothing were needed for the new homes. 
In one of these baskets was placed also a little boy 
of six, in the other a little girl of four. Sometimes 
the mother permitted baby Bennie to ride in the 
basket with his little sister. All three children found 
many things of interest as they rode along in this 
strange, new land. 

One morning Mrs. Craig laid baby Bennie, who 
was asleep, on a bed of leaves amid the boughs of a 
fallen tree, while she helped pack the things to start. 
As Mr. Craig was anxious to overtake some travelers 
who were ahead of him, because in numbers there 
was greater safety, he hurried Mrs. Craig on her 
horse ; when she called for the baby, the little sister 
begged that it be allowed to ride again with her. The 
mother consented, rode on, and the father began to 
load the other horse ; he safely tucked the little boy 
and girl away in the baskets, but in the excitement 
of overtaking the other travelers both father and 
children forgot baby Bennie. 

About an hour later Mrs. Craig, looking back, saw 
only two children and cried out, *' Where is the 
baby.^" All were frantic with fear when they real- 
ized that the baby had been left behind. 

Mr. Craig hastily stripped the pack from one of 
the horses, sprang up on its back with gun in hand, 
and with all possible speed hurried back. For nearly 



THE LOST BABY 



63 







" Here he is, safe and sound ! " 

two hours the rest waited and watched, wept and 
pra3^ed. Finally the sound of the horse's hoofs was 
heard and Mr. Craig came at full gallop, shouting, 
"Here he is, safe and sound ! The httle rascal hadn't 
waked up." 



64 THE FIRST ROMANCE IN KENTUCKY 

THE FIRST ROMANCE IN KENTUCKY 

Difficulties, suffering, and danger beset the early 
pioneers. Yet none of these prevented love, love- 
making, and marriage. The earliest romance was 
that of Samuel Henderson and Betsey Calloway, at 
Boonesborough, in 1776. There came near being no 
wedding, for late in the afternoon of Sunday, July 14, 
when the midsummer sun caused each one to hunt a 
cooler place, Elizabeth and Frances Calloway and 
Jemima Boone, the oldest daughter of Daniel Boone, 
started out for a boat ride on the river. They were 
drifting along in their canoe, unconsciously near the 
opposite shore, when they were suddenly surprised 
and terrified at the appearance of five Indians who 
waded into the water and dragged their canoe ashore. 

The three girls screamed with fright, but Betsey 
Calloway showed herself a true pioneer by gashing 
the head of one of her assailants with her paddle. 
Before dragging them from the boat the Indians forced 
Frances Calloway and Jemima Boone to put on Indian 
moccasins, but Elizabeth, or Betsey, again showed 
her courage by refusing to do so. We can well imagine 
the horror when the people at the fort realized that 
the girls were in the hands of the savages. Both 
Boone and Calloway were absent, but soon returned 
and lost no time in starting for rescue and revenge. 
Two parties set out : one on foot with Colonel Boone 
and the three lovers of the three girls, Samuel Hen- 



THE FIRST ROMANCE IN KENTUCKY 65 

derson, John Holder, and Flanders Calloway, respec- 
tively; another on horseback. 

As soon as they reached the north side of the river, 
Boone drew them up in line, placing the middle man 
at the trail, and pressed forward in pursuit. His 
daring was equaled only by his discretion, for should 
the pursuers be seen by the Indians, it was highly 
probable the three maidens would suffer death by the 
tomahawk. Betsey Calloway came near suffering 
thus when the savages discovered her breaking off 
twigs by which she could be trailed. Though the 
upraised tomahawk with a threat to use it caused her 
to desist from this, she slyly tore off bits of her linsey- 
woolsey dress, and occasionally pressed the heel of 
her shoepack into the soft earth, thus leaving a trail. 

By these signs, in the reading of which Colonel Boone 
was almost as wary as the Indians, the rescuing party 
hardly lost sight of the direction taken, although the 
captors compelled the girls to walk apart through the 
thick cane and wade up and down the streams of 
water, in an effort to hide their trail. On Tuesday 
morning, when about forty miles from Boonesborough, 
the whites came upon the captors just as they had 
kindled a fire to cook some buffalo meat. The two 
parties saw each other about the same time, but as 
their weapons were piled at the foot of a tree, and 
the whites fired at once and rushed upon them, the 
Indians hastily fled without knife, tomahawk, or 
even moccasins. The three girls were unharmed. 

PURCELl's KENTUCKY C 



66 THE FIRST ROMANCE IN KENTUCKY 




" Ihe whites hred and rushed upon them." 

Betsey Calloway, a brunette much tanned by expo- 
sure, was mistaken by one of the rescuing party for an 
Indian, as she sat with the two wearied maidens 



A WEDDING IN THE WILDERNESS 67 

asleep with their heads in her lap. Just as he was 
about to dash out her brains with the butt of his gun 
his arm was arrested by one who recognized her, and 
a most horrible tragedy was averted. Amid rejoicing 
they returned to the fort. 

On the seventh of the next month Squire Boone, 
a Baptist minister, performed the first marriage cere- 
mony in Kentuck} , when Betsey Calloway became 
the wife of Samuel Henderson. The other two couples 
soon followed their example. 

A WEDDING IN THE WILDERNESS 

The boys and girls in the early days of Kentucky 
usually married very young; and a wedding was 
an event so important that ever}^ one in the entire 
community felt a personal interest in the affair. 
The ceremony was usually performed just before 
noon. 

On the morning of the appointed day the groom and 
his attendants met at the home of his father and 
proceeded to the home of the bride. The gentlemen 
wore only clothes that were homemade; linsey shirts, 
leather breeches and leggins, moccasins or shoepacks, 
and caps of mink or raccoon skin with the tail hanging 
down the back completed their costume. 

The ladies were beautiful in linsey-woolsey, coarse 
shoes, or moccasins embroidered with beads and quills, 
and buckskin gloves. Just after the ceremony there 



68 



A WEDDING IN THE WILDERNESS 



was a feast of venison and bear, beef and pork, 
turkeys and geese, potatoes and cabbage, cornmeal 
mush with milk and maple sugar, ash cake and 
dodgers. 

As soon as dinner was over the dancing began and 
lasted not only through the afternoon but through 
the night until dawn. The square dance, the reel, 




As soon as dinner was 



ng began." 



and the jig were the figures that gave most joy to their 
flying feet. 

Either the next day, or very soon thereafter, 
the neighbors helped the newly married couple 
"settle." A party of choppers felled and trimmed 
the trees, others hauled them to the site, while others 
made the clapboards for the roof, and puncheons for 
floor and door. If any windows were made, they were 



A WEDDING IN THE WILDERNESS 69 

covered with oiled doeskin and had thick shutters. 
No one had windows filled with glass in those 
days.^ 

The neighbors helped not only to raise and cover the 
house, but to make the furniture also. A table was 
made from a slab of wood with four legs driven into 
auger holes ; some three-legged stools were made of 
like material. Sticks driven into auger holes in the 
wall supported clapboard shelves where various articles 
were kept. A few pegs were likewise driven in the wall 
where the wearing apparel of both men and women 
was hung. A pair of buck horns or two small forks 
fastened to the logs held the ever trust}^ rifle and 
shot pouch. 

Nor did the}^ stop here. Through a fork placed 
with its lower end in a hole in the floor and its upper 
end fastened to a joist, they placed poles with their 
ends through cracks in the walls. Over these, clap- 
boards were laid. When the whole had been covered 
with skins of bear and deer, this made a most com- 
fortable bed. 

At these house raisings, log rollings, and harvest 
homes there was much merriment coupled with the 
hard labor. Any man who failed to perform his part 
of the work was dubbed "Lazy Lawrence" and was 
denied similar help when he needed it. 

1 There is a story of a little boy who, upon seeing a house with glass 
windows for the first time, rushed home crying, " O Ma, there is a house 
down town with specs on ! " 



70 PIONEER CHILDREN 



PIONEER CHILDREN 



The boys and girls of to-day with all the comforts 
and luxuries surrounding them often pity the pioneer 
children and wonder how they spent their time. How- 
ever, they doubtless were as happy and ambitious as 
we are. The boys early learned to chop, to grub 
bushes up by the roots, maul rails, trap turkeys, 
tree coons, and shoot a rifle. When severe weather 
kept them in the fort, there were not only the duties 
of making brooms and brushes but also the wrestling, 
leaping, and shooting matches where each strove to 
excel the other. How proud was the youth when he 
could ''bark a squirrel," that is, shoot off the bark so 
near the squirrel that the force killed it, without in- 
flicting a wound. . 

The girls also had their work and play. The}^ watched 
the cattle to keep them from straying too far away, 
they hunted flat rocks on which to bake "journey 
cakes," they helped to pound hominy, bring water, 
gather wild nettles, and assisted in soap making, 
sugaring, sewing, candle molding, and wool carding. 
There were likewise near-by excursions for hickory 
nuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, grapes, pawpaws, honey 
locusts, hackberries, huckleberries, blackberries, dew- 
berries, and raspberries. 

But 3^ou say, "All this sounds like fun. Boy Scouts 
and Camp-Fire Girls do many of these things and 
count them sport. The boys and girls of the early 



PIONEER CHILDREN 



71 



days in Kentucky must have had one long hoUday 
with no thought of school or school work." There 
you are mistaken, for scarcely had the first women 
and children come to Harrodstown when Mrs. William 




"There were excursions for nuts and berries." 

Coomes taught in the fort, in 1776, the first school in 
Kentucky. In 1777, John May taught at McAfee's 
Station, and two years later Joseph Doniphan was 
teaching at Boonesborough. 

So these boys and girls of those far-away days, 
although they had no well-warmed, well-lighted, 
well-ventilated schoolhouses ; although their teachers 



72 HOW THE PIONEERS MADE CHANGE 

were not always so scholarly and cultured as one could 
wish ; although often in the earliest days they had 
no attractive textbooks, and their only means of 
learning to read, write, and calculate was from copies 
set by their teachers ; although instead of paper they 
used smooth boards on which to write, with the juice 
of the oak balls for ink; although when they could 
read there were no absorbing storybooks, — ^ yet they 
made progress and perhaps studied as hard as some 
children of to-day. 

HOW THE PIONEERS MADE CHANGE 

We of to-day, with half dollars, quarter dollars, 
dimes, nickels, and pennies, often find it difficult to 
*'make change." Still more difficult was it for the 
early settlers to do so. 

As the Indians used wampum and the early settlers 
of Virginia, tobacco, so the pioneers of Kentucky 
used the skins of wild animals as their first currency. 
While immigrants continued to come to this region, 
Spanish silver dollars came gradually into circulation. 
Still there was no small change. 

As "Necessity is the mother of invention," our 
forefathers actually made change by cutting the 
dollar into four equal parts, each worth twenty-five 
cents. These were again divided, each part worth 
twelve and one half cents, called bits. People some- 
times became careless in the work of making change 



A WOMAN'S WILL 



11 



and often cut the dollar into five "quarters" or into 
ten "eighths." On account of the wedge shape of 
these pieces of cut mone}^, they were called "sharp 
shins." 

If change was needed for a smaller sum than twelve 
and one half cents, merchants gave pins, needles, 
writing paper, and such things. 

This cut silver gradually found its way back to the 
mint for recoinage, usually to the loss of the last owner. 
As late as 1806, a business house in Philadelphia re- 
ceived over one hundred pounds of cut silver, brought 
on by a Kentucky merchant, which was sent on a 
dray to the United States Mint for recoinage. 

A WOMAN'S WILL 

"Where there is a will, there is a way" is an oft- 
quoted proverb, and the first white woman of whom 
we have any record of entering Kentucky proved it 
true. In 1756 Mrs. Mary Draper Inglis, her two 
small sons, and a sister-in-law, Mrs. Draper, were 
taken from their homes in Virginia by the Shawnee 
Indians and carried some distance down the Kanawha, 
where they halted a few days to make salt, thence 
to the Indian village at the mouth of the Scioto, which 
is the site now of Portsmouth, Ohio. Mrs. Inglis 
won her way into the favor of the savages by making 
shirts of material that French traders had brought 
from Detroit. She was soon held in such high esteem 



74 



A WOMAN'S WILL 



by her captors that she was not subjected to the peril 
of running the gantlet, though a greater grief was 
put upon her, — that of being separated from her two 
sons at the division of the prisoners. 

After spending a few weeks at the mouth of the 
Scioto, a number of the savages proceeded to Big 
Bone Lick, over a hundred miles away. With them 
they took Mrs. Inglis and an old Dutch lady who had 
been in captivity for a long while. Not being daunted 
by fear or distance from home, these pioneer women 
planned and effected an escape. On the pretext of 
gathering grapes they started from camp one after- 
noon with only a blanket, knife, and tomahawk. 

With eager feet they reached the Ohio, and followed 
its windings, until after five days' journeying they found 
themselves opposite the mouth of the Scioto. For- 
tune favored them, for a horse was grazing there and 
also some corn was close at hand. Although near 
Indian villages, they loaded the horse with corn and 
pressed on to the mouth of the Big Sandy, but were 
compelled to go farther up that stream to effect a 
crossing. After going some distance, the women 
crossed on driftwood, but the horse, falling among the 
logs, was finall}^ abandoned, and with only a scanty 
store of corn they pursued their dangerous journey. 

Had it not been for walnuts, grapes, and pawpaws, 
hunger would have stayed their steps. Even 
with these the Dutch woman was not long satis- 
fied and, driven to desperation, she threatened and 



A WOMAN'S WILL 75 

attempted the life of Mrs. Inglis. But the latter 
succeeded in escaping from her frantic companion 
and, finding a canoe, took a broad splinter for a paddle 




"e 






They crossed the river on driftwood. 

and reached the Ohio shore. When morning dawned 
and the Dutch woman saw Mrs. Inglis on the other 
bank, she pleaded with her to return to her rescue. 
But fearing a repetition of her late fury, Mrs. Inglis 



^(y WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER 

turned a deaf ear to entreaties and hastened, as fast 
as her exhausted condition permitted, towards home. 
At last, after more than forty days of dire suffering 
and destitution, she reached a cabin where careful 
attention soon restored her to health and from there 
she was taken to a near-by fort and restored to 
her husband. A party went in search of the Dutch 
woman and brought her safely to the settlement. 
One of the little sons died soon after being separated 
from his mother, while thirteen years elapsed before 
the father found and rescued the other. 

WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER 

The women of Kentucky have never been known to 
falter whatever demand dut}^ might make upon them ; 
yet at no period in the history of our common- 
wealth has there been any more severe test of the 
courage of her daughters than occurred on the morning 
of August 15, 1782, at a point about five miles north- 
east of Lexington on the present road from that city 
to Maysville. 

This post had been settled in 1779 by four brothers 
from North Carolina, named Bryan, hence the name 
"Bryan's Station." About forty cabins had been 
"placed in parallel lines and connected by strong 
palisades." This fort and the station at Lexington 
had been selected as special places on which to visit 
the wrath and retaliation for massacre of some Indians 



WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER ^J 

upon the Sandusk}^ ; and as the savages and their 
renegade aUies had been successful, they were easily 
incited to a general attack and inspired with the idea 
of regaining their hunting grounds and driving the 
paleface across the AUeghenies. 

Simon Girty, the notorious renegade, was at the 
height of his glory when, in response to requests of 
runners sent to various tribes, there began at Chilli- 
cothe, August I, 1782, a gathering of Cherokees, 
Shawnees, Miamis, Wyandots, and Potawatamis. 

Ere the march began, the party numbered nearly 
six hundred warriors. With great secrecy and rapidity 
they descended the Little Miami, crossed the Ohio, 
and reached central Kentucky. In the hope of draw- 
ing away the fighting forces from the stations warned, 
Girty sent a party of Wyandots, who harassed 
Hoy's Station, and captured two boys. Captain 
Holder, gathering what men he could, pushed forward 
in pursuit, but was defeated August 12, at Upper 
Blue Licks. When runners spread the news to the 
various forts, the call to rally to Holder's assistance 
was as quickly responded to as if it had been impera- 
tive. 

Girty knew of the common custom of rallying 
to the needs of neighboring settlements, so he ex- 
pected to find a defenseless fort at Bryan's Station 
when he and his band of savages reached there on the 
night of the 14th. Instead, all within seemed awake 
and alert; Hghts were shining and fires burning 



78 WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER 

brightly. Girty at once suspected that his coming 
had been heralded. The truth was that it was the 
preparation for the morrow's march that caused such 
activity ; not one suspected that such a horde of 
murderous savages was so near. So when at the 
early dawn the men started from their fort, they were 
much surprised at a heavy fire from ambuscade, but 
they were so near the gates that they soon retreated 
within and prepared for a stormy siege. Couriers 
carried the news of the attack to Lexington, Todd's, 
St. Asaph's, and Boonesborough. While awaiting 
reenforcements from these stations, the sixty back- 
woodsmen prepared to protect themselves and their 
families. 

Knowing the siege would be severe and perhaps long, 
they began to consider seriously the question of secur- 
ing water; for, by an oversight, the men who built 
the fort placed it at some distance from the spring 
which supplied their wants. As cunning as the In- 
dians, and equally as strategic, were the men opposed 
to them. Instinctively they felt that the savages 
were ambushed near the spring expecting the men to 
come for a supply of water, when it would be the 
work of only a very few moments to fire upon them, 
and through the gateway gain admittance to the fort. 

After talking over the matter the men within the 
fort called together all the women, disclosed their 
suspicions concerning the location of a part of the 
enemy, but told them they felt no violence would be 



WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER 79 

offered women and urged them to go in a body to 
bring water. The women hesitated and said that 
they were not bullet-proof and that savages scalped 
alike the male and the female. In reply the men said 
that the women usually carried the water,- and that if 
the men should go, the Indians would know that their 
ambuscade had been discovered and would at once 
rush upon the whites and gain admittance to the 
fort ; but if the women went as usual, the savages 
would think their hiding secure and would longer 
delay the attack. The women knew that water they 
must have, if the garrison withstood the inevitable 
siege; they also knew that the views of the men were 
correct and that the request for them to bring the 
water arose from no desire on the part of their hus- 
bands and brothers, sons and fathers, to shirk duty 
or shift danger. 

So when the Spartan-like mothers agreed to the 
plan, the younger women followed their example, 
and everyone, matron and maid, with pail in hand or 
piggin on head, marched down to the spring, while 
they ''feared each bush" an Indian. Though vainly 
striving to appear calm, when returning 

" The way seemed long before them, 
And their hearts outran their footsteps " ; 

so the nearer the gate they came, the quicker was their 
walk until it finally ended in a very brisk run and 
very few entered the fort with full vessels. Tradition 
says that as the last entered so hastily and spilled 



8o WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER 




" The walk hnally ended in a very brisk run." 

the water so freely the Indians broke into a laugh. 
But the women had "been tried and not found want- 
ing"; they had proved themselves to be true help- 



WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER 8 1 

mates of those sturdy men who were striving to gain 
a home in the western wilds. 

Erelong the arrangements for defense were com- 
pleted and thirteen men marched out to form a 
decoy party on the Lexington road ; their orders 
were to fire rapidly, make all possible noise, but not 
to pursue the savages too far. They obeyed orders 
well and as soon as the guns sounded in the distance, 
five hundred warriors, led by Girty, rushed from the 
ambush near the spring, expecting to force their way 
over defenseless walls. The greater part of the 
sixty men had resolved themselves into a reception 
committee, expecting just such a call. So, when "their 
deadly balls whistled free," wild cries of terror came 
from Girty 's ranks and "in two minutes not an Indian 
was to be seen," while the thirteen reentered through 
the opposite gateway, very jubilant over the success 
of their little ruse. 

The attack was renewed, but nothing of marked 
importance occurred unless it was the supreme coopera- 
tion that went on within the fort. Every breech was 
repaired, every gate and loophole manned ; men, 
women, and even children were busih' engaged in 
firing at the foe, molding bullets, or quenching the 
flames that the burning arrows from the bows of the 
savages had lighted. At two in the afternoon, just at a 
time when the firing had ceased, about fifty men, from 
various stations, one third on horse, the rest afoot, 
came in reply to the request sent out that morning. 

PURCELL's KENTUCKY 6 



82 WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER 

As the Indians knew that runners had been dis- 
patched for reenforcements, they had planned to 
receive them. On one side of the road "stood the 
forest primeval," while on the other side was a vast 
field of one hundred acres of luxuriant corn, ten feet 
high, whose long green banners formed a dense thicket. 
Here on each side lay warriors within range of the road 
over which they knew the men would come. As 
soon as the horsemen appeared, shots from the guns 
of the savages rang out ; but quickly spurring their 
horses, the recruiting party escaped within the fort 
through such a cloud of dust that not one was wounded. 

Had the foot soldiers been more cautious, they 
too might have fared better; but hearing the firing 
on their friends, they rushed forward into the presence 
of the great crowd of savages, who, having emptied 
their guns, began to advance with tomahawk; but 
in many instances they were held at bay by the muzzle 
of the frontiersman's gun. Thus for an hour, the 
savages pursued the flying soldiers, who when too hard 
pressed turned and aimed, but did not fire until ab- 
solutely forced to do so, as they could have no time 
to reload. 

In a skirmish, a ball from a rifle brought Girty to 
the ground, but when the warriors gathered around 
him, they found that it was only the force that had 
caused him to fall, as the ball had struck a thick piece 
of leather in his shot pouch. Despairing of success, 
Girty crawled to the protection of a huge stump, 



THE RESULT OF ONE RASH ACT 83 

hailed the fort, and attempted negotiations. He 
spoke in commendatory terms of their courage, but 
assured them that to pursue such poHcy further was 
madness, as in addition to his six hundred warriors 
he would soon have reenforcements with cannons, 
when their weak walls would no longer protect them. 
He urged an immediate surrender, pledged his honor 
to protect them as prisoners of war, and inquired if 
they knew him, Simon Girty. 

Some were rather anxious at the news of artillery, 
but a young man named Aaron Reynolds inspired the 
weaker ones with courage when he derisively told 
the speaker to bring on his reenforcements ; that they 
too were expecting reenforcements and if Girty and 
his savage allies remained much longer, their scalps 
would grace his cabin. He said Girty was "very 
well known," that he himself owned a cur, so worth- 
less that he called him "Simon Girty." 

Offended at such language, Girty rejoined his chiefs. 
The night passed without interruption, but daylight 
showed camp fires burning, meat roasting, and not an 
Indian in sight. They had evidently departed just 
before dawn. 

THE RESULT OF ONE RASH ACT 

After the retreat of the savages from Bryan's 
Station it did not take long for the Kentucky riflemen 
to gather and go in pursuit. In the afternoon of the 



84 THE RESULT OF ONE RASH ACT 

same day the savages had retreated from the fort, one 
hundred and eighty-two men from the various stations 
assembled. Fearing that the Indians would escape 
across the river, they started at once to overtake 
them, without waiting for the arrival of Colonel Logan, 
who was coming with three hundred more men. 

Colonel John Todd was put in command, while 
many commissioned officers took their places in the 
ranks. On they pressed, until on the second day, 
as they reached the Lower Blue Licks, they saw the 
Indians leisurely ascending the farther bank. 

The pioneers halted and held a conference in which 
all officers took part. The veteran Boone was asked 
for his opinion which all valued. He counseled either 
waiting for Colonel Logan's reenforcements or so 
dividing their numbers that part could cross above 
and fall in the rear of the enemy, while others could 
fight from the front. 

Some preferred the first plan, others wished to 
adopt the second. In the midst of the consultation 
the rash, undisciplined nature of Colonel Hugh 
McGary, daring but with no deference to authority, 
oblivious to peril but not prudent, caused him to 
exchange some hot words with Todd and Boone; 
then giving a war whoop, he rushed madly into the 
stream, holding his hat above his head, and shout- 
ing, ''All who are not cowards follow me." 

The effect was electric. Horse and foot rushed head- 
long, each trying to be foremost. No order was given. 



THE RESULT OF ONE RASH ACT 85 

none observed. In their unreasonable enthusiasm 
they heeded no command. In vain the officers tried 
to check them, then finally followed. Reaching the 
farther bank, by great difficulty a halt was secured 
and spies sent ahead to examine a ravine where Boone 




"Giving a war whoop, he rushed madly into the stream." 

feared an ambush ; as they returned and reported 
no sign of the enemy, the pioneers moved forward 
in three divisions. By the time they came to this 
ravine Girty's Indians had so placed themselves that 
from their murderous fire many fell. Still the pioneers 
maintained their ground, until at last all hope lay in 
retreat. On the bank of the river there was soon a 
seething mass of horsemen, foot soldiers, and Indians. 



86 TWO KENTUCKY HEROES 

Sixty of Kentucky's bravest fell, and sorrow filled ever}^ 
home. 

Colonel Logan and his soldiers came next day and 
buried their dead, among whom were many of the 
leaders in both public and private life as well as a 
son of the aged Boone. 

There is a tradition that when the Indians saw four 
more of their own among the slain than of the whites, 
they barbarously put to death four of the seven pioneers 
they had taken and subjected the others many times 
to the most cruel and inhuman treatment. 

Through this rash act of McGary nearly one tenth 
of all the fighting men in Kentucky fell. Distress and 
discouragement were general ; and the greatest disaster 
that had yet befallen the country had been brought 
about. 

TWO KENTUCKY HEROES 

In the latter part of the year 1779, David Rogers 
was making his way from New Orleans to Pittsburgh 
with two boats full of military stores. On nearing 
the four-mile bar above the present site of Cincinnati, 
he discovered a great number of Indians emerg- 
ing from the mouth of the Little Miami. Hastily 
landing, his men cautiously crept through the under- 
brush, expecting to take the Indians unawares, when 
they were suddenly surprised by a large force of 
savages, who with rifle and tomahawk made such a 



TWO KENTUCKY HEROES 87 

terrible onslaught that more than half of the whites 
met an almost instantaneous death. 

The crew, in a panic, rushed forward to their boats 
only to find one in the possession of the enemy and the 
other too far from shore to reach its friendly shelter. 
With a courage born of despair they rushed through 
the enemy's lines, and some escaped in the darkness to 
Harrodstown, while others were so severely wounded 
that they barely existed until they were rescued by 
their friends. 

Among these was Robert Benham, who, after 
being shot through the hips, managed to crawl 
to a large fallen tree and hide among its foliage. 
There he quietly lay until the battle was ended, 
and the Indians had returned and gathered the 
spoils from the dead whites. Thinking the coast 
clear once more and suffering pangs of hunger, Ben- 
ham could not resist shooting a raccoon that came 
within his range, trusting to providence to reach it 
after it fell. Scarcely had the sound of his gun died 
away when he heard some one speak. He instantly 
reloaded and sat quietly, expecting an Indian ever}^ 
moment. 

Finally some one said, "Whoever you are, answer 
me." 

He then, realizing that it was no savage, readily 
answered ; and soon one of his former comrades, John 
Watson, appeared with both arms broken. 

Never was there a happier combination. From that 



88 TWO KENTUCKY HEROES 

time the arms of Benham and the legs of Watson 
each did dut}^ for both. Benham could easily load 
his gun and kill the game, while Watson could readily 
kick it within reach of his companion, who could dress 
and cook it. Thus they subsisted until the game in 
their vicinity grew scarce; then the man with the 
sound legs would walk around a drove of wild turkeys 
until he got them within range of Benham's gun, who 
was such a splendid marksman that he never failed 
to kill two or three of the number. 

Their greatest difficulty was in securing water; but 
as in all things, *' where there is a will there is a 
way," so even this difficulty was obviated. Benham 
would place his hat rim between the teeth of Watson, 
who would wade into the river up to his chin, duck 
his head, and thus fill the hat with water which he 
securely delivered to the man without legs, who could 
use it as needed. Benham was thus enabled to cook, 
dress his own and his comrade's wounds, and feed the 
latter also. 

For several weeks they lived thus, until they grew 
stronger and traveled to the Licking River. After a 
great deal of difficulty in making themselves known 
to some passing boats, they were rescued, and taken 
to the Falls of the Ohio, where both recovered. Ben- 
ham afterwards participated in several expeditions, 
and, after peace, returned to the scenes of his sufferings, 
bought land there, and passed his remaining days 
peacefully where he had so nearly met death. 



THE BATTLE OF THE BOARDS 89 

THE BATTLE OF THE BOARDS 

From time immemorial women have been accused 
of possessing an unusual amount of curiosity, but an 
incident of the early days, in what is now Mercer 
County, will prove that some men also belong to the 
curious class. 

In 1783, the same year that saw the treaty of peace 
between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies go 
into effect, Kentucky, still a part of Virginia, was a 
dense forest, infested by roving bands of Indians 
who plundered and murdered the pioneers ; hence 
caution was still the watchword of the white inhabit- 
ants. During this year, three men in the early 
dawn left Harrod's Station to hunt for some horses 
that had strayed off while grazing. For some time, 
over many miles, through dense cane and tangled 
pea vine, the}^ pursued the trail, until, as a refuge 
from the darkness and a cold, drenching rain, the 
pioneers took shelter in an old, deserted log cabin, 
in the midst of a canebrake. 

Having seen signs of Indians during the day and 
knowing that the red men also knew of the cabin, 
they decided to endure the cold, rather than light a 
fire. Finally they concluded a still further precaution 
would be to take refuge in the "loft" of the cabin for 
fear the savage foes might also take shelter therein 
and dispute the right of possession. 

They at once climbed up into the loft, the floor of 



90 



THE BATTLE OF THE BOARDS 



which was clapboards, lying loose upon some round 
poles. Here, with their trusty rifles, they lay quietly 




The Indians built a fi 



for a short time, when to their terror six armed savages 
entered the cabin. Placing their guns and tomahawks 
in a corner, they built a fire and began a scene of 
hilarity characteristic of their tribe. 



THE FAITHFUL SLAVE AND HIS REWARD 91 

One of the men was anxious to know the number 
of the Indians. So, though he was lying on his 
back, and was the middle man, he determined to 
turn over and peep at the crowd below. The other 
two white men determined he should keep still ; so 
they held him, but as he quietly struggled, a pole 
broke and with a terrible crash, clapboards, men, and 
guns fell upon the frightened savages, who with yells 
of terror fled into the forest and never returned. 
Though almost as much terrified as the Indians, the 
white men quietly enjoyed the fire till morning, when 
they returned to the station with their trophies of 
what they laughingly called *'The Battle of the 
Boards." 

THE FAITHFUL SLAVE AND HIS REWARD 

If we search the annals of both ancient and modern 
times we can find no record that shows greater fidelity 
from slave to master than was exhibited by a negro 
to one of Kentucky's most noted pioneers. 

In 1782, March 19, people living in the vicinity of 
Boonesborough discovered some empty rafts floating 
down the river. They at once knew that Indians 
had used them to cross the stream so as to attack 
the unprotected settlements. News was sent to the 
various stations warning the settlers. Colonel Logan 
dispatched fifteen men to Estill's Station, where they 
were joined by twenty-five from that fort. Under 



92 THE FAITHEUL SLAVE AND HIS REWARD 

the command of Captain James Estill, they started 
to pursue and punish the invaders. 

Early in the morning of the 20th, Miss Jennie 
Gass, with a slave, Monk, as protector, went just 
outside the fort at Estill's Station to milk the cows. 
Her mother, seeing the savages approaching, called 
loudly for her to run, but the warning came too late. 
Ere her daughter could reach the gate, her mother 
saw her tomahawked and scalped. 

Monk was captured and asked about the force of 
the fort. Like the half-witted boy who was questioned 
by the Tories, Monk exaggerated the situation, saying 
there were forty men in the fort then molding bullets 
in anticipation of an attack. The truth is that aside 
from the women and children, there were only four 
men, who were too disabled to march. The savages 
accordingly thought it best to retreat. 

No sooner had they withdrawn from the vicinity of 
the fort than two boys were dispatched to find Captain 
Estill's band and tell them of the tragedy. In a few 
hours the messengers found the men, and so uneasy 
were some of the party for their families that five 
returned to help protect the fort, while the other thirty- 
five began to search for the trail of the Indians. A 
part of the horses became so jaded that ten more 
dropped from the ranks, while the remaining twenty- 
five pushed forward with a grim determination to 
find the savages. 

About an hour before sunset they discovered some 



THE FAITHFUL SLAVE AND HIS REWARD 93 

Indians preparing a meal from a buffalo. When 
Captain Estill fired his gun, the Indians fled, and had 
it not been that their leader was wounded, the retreat 
would have been permanent and the battle of Little 
Mountain would never have been fought. With 
almost superhuman strength the chieftain dragged 
himself to a place of safety and with a defiance that 
meant death he commanded his warriors who were 
too loyal to retreat without their wounded leader. 
There, in a space not more than two hundred yards in 
diameter, was fought one of the world's fiercest battles. 

On the one hand there were twenty-five Wyandot 
warriors who defied death. On the other side there 
were twenty-five pioneers, aroused to vengeance by 
the cruelties the red men had visited upon them. 
Well did they obey the command of Estill, "Every 
man to his man, and every man to his tree." At 
one time in the fiercest of the fight, the rallying tones 
of confidence rang out above the crack of the rifles 
as Monk, who was still held prisoner by the savages, 
shouted, ''Don't give way, Massa Jim, you can whip 
the redskins." 

For nearly two hours the combat lasted, neither 
side advancing nor retreating. But when Captain 
Estill sent Lieutenant William Miller with six men 
to gain the rear of the enemy, that seven inglori- 
ousl}^ fled and then the savages began to gain on 
the whites. Finally Captain Estill and a brawny 
Indian clutched in mortal combat. For a time their 



94 THE DOUBLE SHOT 

strength seemed equal, but Estill's broken arm giving 
way, the savage instantly plunged a knife into his 
breast and a moment later, pierced by a bullet from 
Joseph Proctor's unerring gun, fell dead across his 
victim's body. 

There the battle ended, the pioneers taking their 
wounded comrades and leaving the dead upon the 
field. Proctor carried one, a Mr. Irvine, a great 
distance of forty miles upon his back, while the 
faithful Monk carried another. A few days later 
a party of whites visited the scene and buried their 
dead. The Indians had carefully removed their slain 
but left the whites unmolested. Wallace Estill, Monk's 
young master, gave him his freedom and cared for 
him the remainder of his life. He lived to a ripe old 
age and was the father of thirty children. 

The little city of Mount Sterling is near the battle- 
ground where such heroism was displayed by both 
savage and civilian. 

THE DOUBLE SHOT 

Daniel Boone, the famous hunter, fighter, and 
pioneer, regarded himself as a special agent intended 
by providence to convert forests into fields and to 
carry civilization to the wilderness. When we remem- 
ber his many exciting adventures and marvelous 
successes, we are inclined almost to believe that he 
was a child of destiny. 



THE DOUBLE SHOT 



95 



One of the most singular experiences in his warfare 
on the savages occurred about 1780, when about 
two miles south of Owingsville. Boone was making 
one of his solitary journej^s from Boonesborough to 




He took aim at the foremost.' 



the Upper Blue Licks. As he came near a deserted 
station about twelve miles east of the present site 
of Mount Sterling, he perceived fresh signs of Indians ; 
so he continued his journey cautiously until he came 
to a clear spring near the bank of Slate Creek. Here, 
as he was quenching his thirst, a ball whistled by 
and broke the bark from the beech that shaded the 



96 A MAN OF STRATEGY AND SAGACITY 

spring. Boone lost no time in reaching the creek, 
swimming to the opposite bank, and conceahng him- 
self in a convenient canebrake. He then cautiously 
parted the cane until he had gone about one hundred 
yards, when he observed two Indians coming warily 
towards the creek. He had slain so many savages 
that he was not satisfied with the thought of killing 
one of his adversaries, but determined that one shot 
should kill both. He therefore took aim at the fore- 
most and as the other came in range he fired ; and as 
one fell dead, the other, dropping his gun, fled with 
frantic yells of pain, for the ball had passed through 
the body of one and struck the other's shoulder. 
Boone then very calmly crossed the creek, selected 
one of the guns left by the savages, threw the other in 
the creek, where it was found afterwards, and pro- 
ceeded on his way to the Blue Licks. 

A MAN OF STRATEGY AND SAGACITY 

His father having died when he was only fourteen, 
Benjamin Logan found himself, according to the laws 
of Virginia, at the head of a family, and in possession 
of his father's estate. With his mother's consent he 
sold the land and divided the proceeds among his 
brothers and sisters. Since he ^wished to see his 
mother comfortably settled, he united funds with 
that of a brother and bought a small home, which 
was secured to her during her Kfe. 



A MAN OF STRATEGY AND SAGACITY 97 

Bidding his mother farewell, he soon made for him- 
self a home on the Holston River. Here he remained 
a few years and after having served with both Colonel 
Bouquet and Colonel Dunmore in the expeditions 
against the Indians, resolved to try the western wilds 
of Kentucky. With two or three slaves, he came, 
traversed a great part of the wilderness with Boone 
and Henderson, and pitched his camp and built his 
fort in Lincoln County near the present city of Stan- 
ford. Bringing out his family the next year, he 
deemed it prudent to place them in the more securely 
fortified Harrodstown. But early in 1777 feeling more 
assurance of safety, he removed all his household to 
his new home. 

Early in the morning of May 20, while some of 
the men were guarding the women as they were out- 
side milking, Indians fired on them from a near-by 
canebrake. All fled toward the fort, but one of the 
white men fell dead, another was mortally wounded, 
and a third. Burr Harrison, was severely crippled. 
There were now only twelve fighting men to defend 
the fort, while the enemy numbered one hundred. 
Harrison ran staggering towards the fort, when he 
fell and lay all day within range of the rifles of the 
Indians, and in sight of his agonized wife; her pleas 
for help and cries of distress, as from her own place 
of safety she saw her husband wounded and help- 
less, touched the sympathy and tried the heroism of 
all.^ 

PURCELL's KENTUCKY 7 



98 



A MAN OF STRATEGY AND SAGACITY 



All hesitated until twilight came, and it grew so 
dark the Indians could not distinguish objects moving 




"Amid a shower of arrows they entered the gate." 



around the stockade. As there were a great many 
large hogs in the vicinity, Logan covered himself 
with a small feather bed, made from the feathers of 



A MAN OF STRATEGY AND SAGACITY 99 

the numerous wild pigeons, turkeys, and geese, and 
leaving the gate crept hither and thither, on all fours, 
grunting and acting as if in search of something to 
eat. Finally he reached Harrison, apparently by 
accident. He suddenly seized him in his arms, sprang 
to his feet, and darted toward the fort before the 
surprised Indians sufficiently recovered to take sure 
aim. Amid a shower of bullets and arrows he and 
Harrison entered the gate in safety. 

Enraged at the deception practiced upon them, 
the Indians vigorously assaulted the fort, while the 
inmates as vigorously defended it. Under Logan's 
lead they resolved to fight to the last, but the powder 
and ball began to run low. What should be done ^ 
These men, made of "sterner stuff," faced another 
danger. If the siege was continued, they must perish 
or procure ammunition. 

Again the heroism of Logan shone forth. Assuring 
his wife and friends of a safe and speedy return, he, 
with two trusty companions, under the cover of the 
night, left the fort. They crept through the Indian 
lines, avoided the regular route through Cumberland 
Gap, rapidly traversed mountains and valleys, crossed 
rivers, pushed through brush and cane, reached the 
Holston, procured "powder and ball," and on the 
tenth night Logan reentered the fort, having traveled 
more than three hundred miles. His companions soon 
arrived with the ammunition, reenforcements were 
brought, and the Indians retired. 



lOO 



THE KIND-HEARTED INDIAN 



THE KIND-HEARTED INDIAN 

About 1784, a party of pioneers left the Falls of 
the Ohio with the intention of descending the river. 
Reaching Yellow Banks, the boat stopped for a while. 
One of the party, a Mr. Rowan, taking a loaded gun, 



KT ' ^ *''" ^^'-^^^ ^"'^ - 


., ' ' ^^^Rf^H 


HU 


^ 


^^s^SRiP^ 


jjU^^^ii 


W^' 


^mi 


I^MlTil f 1 rfimUlr ^ ^^M 


^it^^^^tA W*^ ^S^^^^nK^^I 



" Mr. Rowan turned the butt of his gun." 

but no ammunition, wandered some distance from the 
shore and upon his return was astonished to find the 
boat gone. The crew had cause to believe a party of 
Indians was near, so hastened away without waiting 
for their comrade. The nearest settlement was at 
Vincennes, one hundred miles distant. So thither 
Mr. Rowan bent his steps until after three weary 
da3^s of exposure and exhaustion he abandoned all 



SAVED BY THE HUG OF A BEAR loi 

hope and lay down to die. It was not long, however, 
before, hearing the report of a gun, he again took 
courage, rose, and made his way in the direction of 
the sound. When he came in sight, an Indian raised 
his gun to fire, but, seeing Mr. Rowan turn the butt 
of his gun, knew he meant to be friendly ; so with a 
politeness that would have done honor to a civilian 
the savage promptly turned the butt of his also. 

Learning the destitute condition of Rowan, the 
Indian hospitably took him to his wigwam, cared for 
him until his strength was restored, and then con- 
ducted him to Vincennes. Anxious to reward such 
unusual kindness, Rowan tried to prevail on the savage 
to accept a gift of ^300; of this the Indian nobly 
refused every penny, but in order to please his recent 
guest finally accepted a new blanket, saying, "When 
I wrap myself in it, I will think of you." 

SAVED BY THE HUG OF A BEAR 

Though the records of pioneer life teem with start- 
ling encounters with wild animals, there really occurred 
a very unusual incident, when the life of a young man, 
named Downing, was saved by the hug of a bear. 

In those early days, the people of that part of the 
country that is now Kentucky had to content them- 
selves with very rough cabins and forts for their 
families, and with no outbuildings or inclosures what- 
ever for their stock. 



I02 SAVED BY THE HUG OF A BEAR 

Instead of well-kept stables and excellent pastures, 
the stockade protected the cows, sheep, and horses 
at night, and the near-b}^ forest was their home and 
grazing ground during the day. Although as close 
watch as possible was kept over these animals, the}^ 
sometimes strayed so far away that it was necessary 
to bring them back or the Indians would take them for 
their own. 

In the year 1786, in what is now Bath County, a 
horse had strayed off, and a young man named Yates 
requested another occupant of the fort, a mere lad 
named Downing, to go with him in search of the animal. 

They traversed the woods in every direction all day, 
but in vain. About sundown, when nearly seven miles 
from the fort, in a wild valley, Downing became very 
anxious concerning sounds that seemed to follow his 
footsteps regardless of the direction he took. He 
repeatedly said that he heard sticks breaking and that 
he believed Indians were following them. 

Yates, who was older, more experienced, and more 
inured to the perils of frontier life, laughed heartily 
at the fears of his companion, often inquired at what 
price he rated his scalp, and jokingly offered to insure 
it at a sixpence. 

Oblivious to all danger, enjoying the discomfort of 
his companion, and wishing to display his daring, 
Yates began a rollicking tune as he boldly passed 
along; but young Downing, feeling "the better 
part of valor is discretion," and being sure from the 



SAVED BY THE HUG OF A BEAR 103 

ominous sounds that they were being followed, decided 
to discover if possible the hidden foe. He gradually 
slackened his pace, until his companion was about 
twenty or thirty yards in advance; then just after 
descending a small hill. Downing quickl}^ stepped from 
the path and secreted himself behind some bushes. 
He was horrified a few moments later to see two In- 
dians cautiously put aside the canebrake and peer in 
the direction taken by his companion. 

Downing, fearful lest the savages knew his own 
hiding place, decided to fire upon them at once ; but 
his hand was so unsteady from the excitement, that 
his gun went off before he took aim. Terror-stricken 
he fled in the direction taken by his friend, whom he 
soon met, returning to learn the cause of the firing. 
There was no need to inquire, for in full view the two 
savages were rapidly pursuing them. 

True Kentucky chivalry was soon evident, for though 
he could easily have saved himself, Yates would not 
outrun his young companion, but kept by his side. 

It so happened that a path diverged from the one 
taken by the whites, but rejoined it at a distant point. 
Knowing the country well, the Indians took this 
divergent path, expecting to intercept the pioneers at 
the point of reunion. Passing this point in safety, 
the white men soon came to a deep gully. Mr. Yates 
easily cleared it, but his companion, being very much 
exhausted, fell against the farther bank and rolled at 
full length to the bottom. He gave himself up for 



104 



SAVED BY THE HUG OF A BEAR 



lost. Over went the two Indians like deer, so intent 
upon catching the foremost man they apparently 
did not notice Downing. 




"The bear growled and hugged him close." 

For a while fear kept him still, but finally thinking 
the Indians were far away, the young man walked 
to the shallow part of the ditch. Just as he reached a 



A KENTUCKIAN DEFEATED THE BRITISH 105 

place so shallow that he was no longer concealed, to 
his astonishment and dismay he beheld one of the 
savages returning, apparently in search of him. 

Having neglected to reload his gun, and seeing the 
Indian advancing upon him, he threw it away and 
again trusted to flight. The white man ran and the 
Indian ran. It was a race for life, but as they ascended 
the long ridge, so steadily did the Indian gain upon 
him that when Downing ran along one side of a big 
fallen poplar, the Indian passed along the other, evi- 
dently expecting to seize him at the upturned root. 
However, just there lay a huge mother bear and her 
cubs. So rapidly was the Indian running that b}^ the 
time he had discovered Mrs. Bruin, she had discovered 
him; and though his salutation was an exclamation 
of horror and a plunge of his great knife, the bear only 
growled and hugged him close. 

So happy was Downing over this timely meeting of 
his two enemies, that he joyfully fled to the fort, 
where he found his companion resting from his exciting 
race. Those in the fort soon received a vivid account 
of how Downing's life, providentially, had been saved 
by the hug of a bear. 

A KENTUCKIAN DEFEATED THE BRITISH 

There was born in Virginia, on November 19, 1752, 
a light-haired, blue-e3^ed bab}^ boy who was destined 
to become the founder of our commonwealth, the 



io6 A KENTUCKIAN DEFEATED THE BRITISH 

father of Kentuck}^, and the captor of England's 
important outposts. 

Leaving his home one spring morning in 1775, and 
stopping at the bend of the road to wave farewell to 
his mother, sister, and brother, George Rogers Clark, 
a young soldier-surveyor of twenty-two who had 
seen active service in Dunmore's war, started out for 
the wilds of Kentucky. 

More than six feet in height, dignified, affable, 
manly, brave, determined, yet gentle, he at once 
commanded not only the attention, but respect, friend- 
ship, and leadership of all. Whether or not he came 
with an official commission, his military bearing, his 
superior mtelligence, and his indomitable spirit caused 
him by common consent to be placed at the head of 
the irregular militia of this section. 

George Rogers Clark returned to Virginia in the 
autumn, but in the memorable year of '^G came again 
to Kentucky to make it his permanent home. 

He opposed the plans of the Transylvania Com- 
pany, urged the settlers to try to effect a more certain 
connection with Virginia, and went over mountains, 
through mud, and amid difficulties and dangers, as a 
representative to the Virginia legislature, which had 
adjourned before he reached the capital. 

Not to be deterred, he visited Governor Patrick 
Henry, who was at home sick, and impressed upon 
him the necessity of protecting the settlements in 
Kentucky. He then went before the executive council 



A KENTUCKIAN DEFEATED THE BRITISH 107 

of the state and asked for 500 pounds of gunpowder 
to be used in defense of the stations. The council 
agreed to lend this to the colonists as friends, but said 
they could not give it to them as fellow citizens. At 
this Clark refused to accept the gunpowder and 
intimated intentions of appealing for assistance else- 
where, saying that, "A country that is not worth 
defending is not worth having." This reply caused 
the recall of Clark to the presence of the council, and 
the gunpowder was conveyed to Pittsburgh and de- 
livered to Clark for the colonists. 

At the next session of the legislature, through the 
splendid services of this same useful citizen, the ter- 
ritory which later became our commonwealth was 
erected into Kentucky County, of Virginia. 

From this time on Clark was, by common consent, 
the moving master spirit in all the daring plans of his 
adopted state. With a seeing eye and an unsurpassed 
judgment he concluded that the Indian invasions 
were inspired by the British and that to stop this ter- 
rible warfare the colonists should strike at the fountain 
head. Accordingl}^ he laid and perfected his plans 
for attacking the posts of Kaskaskia, Cahokia, and 
Saint Vincents (now Vincennes). Virginia voted to 
defray the expenses and gave Clark two sets of in- 
structions, one public, ordering him to proceed to 
the defense of Kentucky, the other private, ordering 
an attack on Kaskaskia. 

Descending the Ohio on flatboats or pirogues, he 



I08 A KENTUCKIAN DEFEATED THE BRITISH 



landed, May, 1778, three companies of troops and sev- 
eral families on Corn Island, near the Falls of the Ohio. 
He drilled his raw recruits, reenforced with volunteers 
from the country, and a few weeks later, amid a total 




"On the night of July 4, they captured Kaskaskia." 

eclipse of the sun, set out with his frail fleet of four 
companies of one hundred and thirty-five fighting men. 
Landing on Owen's Island near the mouth of the 
Tennessee River, and striking across the country 
from Fort Massacre, or Massac, he began that won- 
derful march which won him undying fame. 



A KENTUCKIAN DEFEATED THE BRITISH 109 

Meeting a party of hunters recently from Kaskaskia, 
Clark secured from them important intelligence and 
an offer to guide his forces where by a sudden surprise 
they believed the place could be easily captured. On 
the night of July 4, he took the town of two hundred 
and fifty inhabitants without the loss of one drop of 

blood. 

Most of the people were of French descent and had 
been taught by the British that the Kentuckians 
waged savage warfare. They were therefore terror- 
stricken until General Clark assured them that their 
own king, whose rule over them had been exchanged 
for that of the British by the treaty of Paris, 1763, 
had joined hands with America to stop the cruel war 
of the British and Indians. The French colonists 
were then overjoyed, said their French king had come 
to Ufe, and offered to accompany the division that was 
to march to Cahokia. 

On July 6, that post was also surprised and taken ; 
the inhabitants were dreadfully alarmed at the sight 
of the "big knife," but were soon reassured by their 
relatives and friends from Kaskaskia. 

Not satisfied with these briUiant successes. General 
Clark felt that he must also capture Vincennes, but 
M. Gibault, the village priest of both that place and 
Kaskaskia, volunteered to inform the people of Vm- 
cennes that the king of France had become an ally 
of the American colonists. Soon the American flag 
floated over that fort and from the Lakes to the Mis- 



no A FAMOUS MARCH 

sissippi the powerful arm of the British was broken, 
and the many Indian invasions of Kentucky were dis- 
continued. 



A FAMOUS MARCH 

News came to General Clark in January of 1779, 
that the British under Governor Hamilton from Detroit 
had recaptured Vincennes and were waiting only till 
spring to advance with hundreds of Indian allies on 
Kaskaskia, obhterate the Kentuckians, and break the 
power of Virginia west of the Alleghenies. Learning 
at the same time that Hamilton had only about eighty 
regular soldiers with three cannons and some swivels, 
Clark decided not to wait to be attacked, but to take 
the aggressive. He at once sent forty-five men on a 
boat to proceed to a point near the mouth of the 
White River with instructions, to allow nothing to 
pass, and to wait further orders. 

Nine days after the important information reached 
him. General Clark with one hundred and seventy men 
started across flooded prairies, swollen streams, and 
inundated valleys. There is no more daring march 
recorded. Trudging through rain and mud, fording 
small streams, wading most of the time in deep water 
ofttimes to the armpits, they traveled without tents, 
depending on parched corn and the securing of game 
for food ; at last they went for days with no nourish- 
ment whatever. 



A FAMOUS MARCH 



III 



It took all the ingenuity of General Clark to keep 
up the courage of the soldiers. Sometimes he would 
plunge into the deep water singing a favorite song, 
when all would join in, fall in line, and sing as 





1 




J^l^f 




Clark and his men crossing a swollen stream. 

they waded. At another time, seeing the discourage- 
ment and despair in their faces, he blackened his face 
with gunpowder, gave an Indian-like war whoop, and 
plunged into the stream ; again all followed. At an- 
other place a little drummer boy was placed on the 



112 A FAMOUS MARCH 

shoulders of a tall man and told to beat as if for his 
life. The enthusiasm of the boy and his stirring music 
quickly renewed the courage of the soldiers. A divi- 
sion was placed in the rear with orders to shoot any 
who ^'dropped out," and the march was continued 
through the freezing waters. 

Near Vincennes, they captured a Frenchman who 
had been duck shooting, and sent a letter by him to 
the French inhabitants saying that the fort would be 
stormed that night and they could choose between 
remaining quietly in their homes and receiving the 
friendly protection of the assaulters, or of going into 
the British fort and of abiding results. 

All was then commotion and people rushed out 
from their houses to learn the news. By a stratagem 
of Clark's his men were so marching in a circle be- 
hind an elevation that as they passed and repassed, 
flying many "colors," each man was counted dozens 
of times, and the inhabitants of the place thought 
there was an attacking force of many hundreds of 
people at their gates. 

For two days and nights, Clark's men besieged the 
fort. Their ammunition ran alarmingly low, yet Clark, 
Napoleon-like, was very demanding. At last the "Stars 
and Stripes" floated again over Vincennes, and thus 
was secured to our nation that vast tract out of which 
have been carved Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, 
and Illinois, while the value to the colonists in Ken- 
tucky could not be easily estimated. 



THE FIRST CHRISTMAS PARTY 113 

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS PARTY 

When General George Rogers Clark had conquered 
the British and Indians in their stronghold in the 
Illinois countr}^, he felt it safe for the few families he 
had left on Corn Island, near the Falls of the Ohio, 
to remove to the mainland, and so ordered that a fort 
be built there. 

Rows of log cabins joined together around a hollow 
square constituted this structure ; at one corner there 
was a cabin, double the size of the others, that was to 
serve as a storeroom. In this building took place the 
first Christmas dinner and dance in Kentucky, as far 
as any record shows. 

The men ranged the forest and brought home rabbits, 
turkeys, deer, bears, and buffaloes. The women baked 
corn pone, hoecake and johnnycake, boiled and fried 
hominy, and prepared milk, butter, and cheese. 

Forks were driven into the earthen floor of the store- 
house. On rough, unhewn, uncovered boards laid 
above poles stretched between the forks, the feast was 
served. Wooden platters held the meats, wooden 
plates the bread, and wooden bowls the hominy. The 
centerpiece that decorated the table and proved the 
great dish of the banquet was an opossum baked 
whole, hanging by its tail on a stick of wood, which 
was suspended over the center. 

The fiddler of the fort, an old negro named Cato, as 
well as every man, woman, and child, had been down- 

PURCELL's KENTUCKY 8 



114 



THE FIRST CHRISTMAS PARTY 



cast for some time because the fiddle had only one 
string left. Patient Cato had tried horsehair and deer 




" The Frenchman retired in a rage." 

sinews, but no music could thus be made. Fortunately 
on Christmas eve a small boat landed near the fort 
and on it was a Frenchman with a violin. 

It did not take old Cato long to inquire if the musician 



FORT JEFFERSON 1 15 

had any extra strings he would sell ; learning that he 
had, Cato joyfully exchanged raccoon skins for the 
coveted strings, and gave the stranger an extra skin 
to tell nothing about the trade. Cato was intending to 
give the settlers a great surprise. Alas for his dreams ! 
The traders from the boat being invited to the feast, 
the Frenchman happened to speak of an accident to his 
fiddle ; whereupon he was besieged with requests to get 
his instrument and play, so they could dance. He re- 
luctantly yielded, the table was cleared away, the older 
people and children ranged themselves around the walls, 
and the younger men and women impatiently waited 
on the smooth, dirt floor, until the music began. 

The Frenchman tried in vain to teach the fashionable 
dances of his homeland to the backwoods boys and 
girls. At last, becoming discouraged and disgusted, he 
retired in a rage. Then the old darkey approached him 
and politely asked if he might play while his honor 
rested. He was told to "play on." 

Soon to the music of old Cato's fiddle, the boys and 
girls were making merry by dancing the Virginia reel. 
Not till the midnight hour did either the dancers or 
fiddler weary or pause. 

FORT JEFFERSON 

Thomas Jefferson, the Sage of Monticello, the 
originator of many plans for the defense and perpetua- 
tion of our country, deserves a place of honor in the 



Ii6 FORT JEFFERSON 

records of Kentucky, for the interest shown in this, 
the then remote part of Virginia. 

In a message in 1778, Governor Patrick Henry of 
Virginia suggested that a post be estabhshed and forti- 
fied on the Mississippi ; but it was Governor Jefferson 
of the same state who later expressly said that the plan 
must be executed. 

Spain and France for years were zealous in their 
efforts to check the extension of the infant repubhc, 
control the great Mississippi, and make of Kentucky 
a Spanish province. Her geographical position and 
great river frontage caused them to realize her wonder- 
ful resources. So, to fortify the claim of the United 
States to the Mississippi as its western boundary, 
Thomas Jefferson, Governor of Virginia, engaged Dr. 
Thomas Walker with an able corps of surveyors to ascer- 
tain the point on the Mississippi River intersected by 
the southern Hmit of Virginia. He then, in 1780, in- 
structed General George Rogers Clark to establish a 
fort and garrison near that point and afterwards to 
extend a line of forts to the north, both to offer protec- 
tion and to establish possession. So in the summer of 
1780, General Clark with 200 soldiers erected and 
manned with cannons a fort at a point about five miles 
below where Cairo now is and near Wickliffe, Ken- 
tucky. Adverse criticisms fell from many because of 
this division and depletion of forces, but as in all 
other enterprises with which he was connected, Jefferson 
built not for the present alone but for the future as well. 



FORT JEFFERSON 117 

By an oversight Clark and his soldiers failed to follow 
Jefferson's instructions to secure from the Chickasaw 
Indians, who owned the land west of the Tennessee 
River, the consent to the erection of the fort. They 
thereby aroused a spark of resentment that erelong 
became such a flame that the Indians began harassing 
and killing the famiHes outside the fort. By threat 
of death, they forced one captive to describe the true 
state of the fort, in which, to their surprise, they learned 
there were onl}^ about thirty men and two thirds of these 
were sick with malaria. Soon the Indians marched, 
one thousand two hundred strong, under the com- 
mand of a Scotchman named Colbert ; but for five 
days these weakened frontiersmen with little water 
and less food, except green pumpkins, held the 
fort. 

Finally Captains Clark and Colbert met under a 
flag of truce, but failed to agree to terms. The fort 
even refused a demand to surrender, though told that 
the assistance they expected would not reach them. 
As night fell the Indians made a desperate assault, 
but the firing from one of the blockhouses so depleted 
and demoralized their ranks that they retreated. 
Reenforcements arrived soon after and the siege was 
abandoned. 

Though Fort Jefferson from its isolated position was 
finally forsaken, yet "its evacuation was a signal for 
peace," and the Indians here no longer molested the 
white settlers. 



Ii8 "THE HARD WINTER" 

"THE HARD WINTER" 

From November to March, 1 779-1 780, the settlers 
of Kentucky suffered untold anguish from the severity 
of the weather and the scarcity of food. More pioneers 
had come into the wilderness the preceding summer 
and so increased the population that the products of 
garden, field, and forest were soon exhausted. 

Deep, unmelting snow covered the land ; many 
families coming by river were caught in the masses of 
ice, compelled to abandon their primitive boats, and 
encamp on the frozen shore ; while the traveler by 
land found trails blocked with snow, creeks frozen 
solid, and the forest desolate. Horses, cattle, and 
many wild animals froze or died from want of nourish- 
ment, while so great was the extremity that the settlers 
were forced to eat the flesh of the animals that had 
thus fallen, and for months had to go without bread. 
In this severe cold, through the deep snow and over 
the solid ice, there could be little traveling. To secure 
supplies from elsewhere was impossible ; and even 
when spring began to bring some relief, one bushel of 
corn brought, in the continental currency, from fifty to 
one hundred and seventy-five dollars. Complete relief 
could not come until the seedtime and the harvest 
home were over. 

The Pilgrims were not more grateful on their first 
Thanksgiving Day than were the Kentucky frontiers- 
men when plenty again abounded. 



WILDCAT McKINNEY 119 

WILDCAT McKINNEY 

Though the pioneers of Kentucky endured many 
murderous attacks from the Indians, there were other 
dangers which were not trifling. One of the most 
exciting of these incidents was the experience of a 
man named John McKinney, who was employed at an 
early day by the people of Lexington, as their first 
teacher. 

At that time Kentucky had no newspaper, and items 
of interest from the states beyond the mountains were 
eagerly greeted by all. In May, 1783, a traveler 
passing through the embryo city of what is now the 
capital of our famed blue-grass section, brought with 
him a newspaper containing the Articles of Peace with 
Great Britain. All were anxious to read them. The 
fact that the Articles had not yet been ratified did not 
lessen the interest of the citizens. A copy of any paper 
was a treat, and such news as the Articles meant great 
hope for the struggling settlers. As the gentleman 
would resume his journey the following day and take 
with him the much-prized paper, some of the citizens 
appealed to McKinney to copy the Articles of Peace. 

At that time Lexington was only a cluster of about 
thirty cabins, and one which stood just outside the fort, 
near the present site of the courthouse, was used as a 
schoolroom. 

Thither, the next morning, the teacher went to copy 
the precious news of peace. While busily writing, he 



I20 



WILDCAT Mc KINNEY 



heard a noise and glancing up saw a very unusual and 
unwelcome guest. A ferocious wildcat with bristles 
erect, tail curled, and eyes flashing, had paused on the 




The wildcat was not to be frowned down." 



threshold and was peering around the room. At first 
she did not see McKinney, but by some involuntary 
movement he attracted her attention, and she soon 
exhibited other than friendly emotions. 



WILDCAT McKINNEY 1 21 

Having been accustomed to subdue the backwoods 
boys and girls by the awfulness of his frown, the 
teacher tried the same tactics now; but the cat was 
not to be frowned down. As the teacher reached for 
a rule she, with the ferocity of a lion, sprang upon 
him, fastened her claws in his side, and began tearing 
his clothes, mangling his flesh, and inflicting such 
serious wounds that the blood flowed copiously. 

Knowing he could not long withstand her power 
and despairing of aught else to do, he threw his weight 
upon her and pressed her against the sharp corner of 
the table. Soon her weird cries were mingled with his 
calls of distress, and erelong the citizens knew something 
unusual was happening in the little schoolhouse. The 
women were first to answer the cry of alarm. Reach- 
ing the door, they paused to discover the cause of the 
commotion and seeing Mr. McKinney bending over 
the table, writhing and groaning, they at first glance 
thought that he had a severe attack of cramp, but 
quickly seeing the cat, one lady exclaimed, "Why, Mr. 
McKinney, what is the matter.^" 

He very gravely replied, "Madam, I have caught a 
cat. 

By this time the cat was lifeless ; but her teeth were 
so deeply imbedded in his side that the neighbors, 
many of whom had gathered by this time, had great 
difficulty in disengaging her. 

The shock, the wound, and the loss of blood made 
McKinney very sick and weak, and for several days 



122 HOW KENTUCKY WAS FORMED 

he was confined to his bed while the boys and girls 
enjoyed a holiday. 

He lived to a ripe old age and was often heard to say 
he would rather fight two Indians than one wildcat. 

HOW KENTUCKY WAS FORMED 

When "the embattled farmers stood and fired the 
shot heard round the world," Kentucky was that por- 
tion of the "Old Dominion" that was destined to be 
the happy homes of so many men, valorous in the 
field and eloquent in the forum. The state to be, whose 
toast and boast has ever been her noble sons and fair 
daughters, was still called Fincastle County, Virginia. 

The last day of 1776, the year that saw the sons of 
the colonies rise in the majesty of their manhood and 
declare they would no longer submit to the rule of 
King George, the Virginia legislature divided Fincastle 
County into three counties, and called one of them 
Kentucky. This so remained until May, 1780, when 
Kentucky County was divided into Jefferson, Fayette, 
and Lincoln. Then the name of Kentucky was 
abandoned until in 1783, when an act of the Virginia 
legislature united the three counties into Kentucky 
District. On March 3, 1783, the first court convened 
at Harrodstown ; but no house th.ere being large enough, 
a church, six miles distant, was the home of the first 
judicial proceedings. 

An act of this court caused a log jail and courthouse 



KENTUCKY IN THE REVOLUTION 123 

to be built where Danville now stands. Immigrants 
continued to come to this "Eden of the West" and the 
three original counties were divided and subdivided 
until June i, 1792, when Kentucky became the fifteenth 
star in the constellation. There were then nine counties 
with a total population of 100,000; from this embryo 
has come a commonwealth of one hundred and twenty 
counties, with an area of four thousand square miles, rich 
in minerals and timber, factories and fields. 

From the mountains of the east and the blue grass 
of the central part, even to the "Pennyrile" of the far 
west, each son of the "Dark and Bloody Ground" 
loves the land settled by Boone, Kenton, and Clark. 

KENTUCKY IN THE REVOLUTION 

The youth of our state may feel that because Ken- 
tucky was not one of the original Thirteen Colonies to 
make the heroic struggle for freedom, that she played 
no part in establishing and extending our national 
government. 

During this period, remote as was this part of Vir- 
ginia from the centers of civilization, every road blazed, 
every settlement made, every victory over the red 
savage, had a far-reaching effect, not alone for the 
state in embryo, but for the national government. 

Had not the pioneers of Kentucky, with the heroism 
of the Romans of old, subdued the savages, stopped 
their depredations, and secured to the mother state of 



124 KENTUCKY IN THE REVOLUTION 

Virginia that vast tract out of which have been carved 
Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, and IlHnois, the 
power of England, to-day, might cut our continent 
in two. 

Kentuckians waited not for opportunity but made it. 

At the battle of Point Pleasant, in October, 1774, 
where the noted "Cornstalk" met defeat, there were 
with General Andrew Lewis men whose name and 
fame furnish much of Kentucky history. There were 
Harrod, the Shelbys, the Boones, and other intrepid 
leaders who afterwards brought out from chaos our 
infant commonwealth. 

The effect of this battle was more than local. It 
gave peace to the frontiersmen at the time the colonies 
were beginning the crucial contest with England and 
for a while prevented that barbaric warfare waged by 
the British and Indians united. So severe was the 
slaughter, it is said, that blood was found on each tree 
behind which the Indians and pioneers were posted. 

In 1780 one of our pioneers who afterwards became 
our first governor. Colonel Isaac Shelb}^ was again in 
Kentucky locating lands that some time before he had 
marked out and improved, when he heard of the sur- 
render of Charleston. A man with a soul so fired 
with patriotism could not be contented not to answer 
his country's call. He hurried home, secured volun- 
teers, and did signal service in both North and South 
CaroHna, and in Georgia. In a measure he overcame 
the defeat of Gates at Camden ; by his momentous 



KENTUCKY'S PIONEER HISTORIAN 125 

move, though not in supreme command, Colonel 
Shelby will ever be known as the hero of Kings Moun- 
tain, where the enemy surrendered after Ferguson with 
seventy-five officers and men had been killed. 

This was at the darkest hour of the Revolution and 
has been called "the first link in the great chain of 
events in the South that established the independence 
of the United States." These conquests by Shelby in 
the South, coupled with those of Clark at Kaskaskia, 
Cahokia, and Vincennes, were as important in both 
immediate and future results as any that illumine the 
pages of the Revolution. 

KENTUCKY'S PIONEER HISTORIAN 

To view Kentucky in its primeval beauty and rugged 
grandeur ; to talk face to face with Boone, Harrod, 
Todd, Cowan, and Kenned}^ those hard}^ hunters who 
blazed the way and changed the uncertain trail to a 
broad thoroughfare through the western wilds ; to 
experience the difficulties and encounter the dangers 
of those dreadful days — were experiences for one who 
would essay to write a history of the country, the 
times, and the people. Yet such were the advantages 
enjo^^ed by Kentucky's earliest historian, John Filson. 

Born in Pennsylvania in 1747, given a common 
school and academic education, lured either by the 
spirit of adventure, the locating of lands, or the en- 
thusiastic reports of the far-famed "second paradise" 



126 KENTUCKY'S PIONEER HISTORIAN 

with its "happy cUmate and plentiful soil," Filson 
reached Lexington in 1782. Here he succeeded "Wild- 
cat McKinney " as the second teacher in this "Athens 
of the West." 

While engaged in teaching, Filson was securing in- 
formation that was to give to the world, not only the 
first history of Kentucky, but the first authentic 
account of that vast, transmontane wilderness about 
which so many exciting experiences had been recounted. 

It has been said, "he could ask more questions and 
answer fewer than any one of his time." 

Active, observant, accurate, he gave, in his "Dis- 
covery, Settlement, and Present State of Kentucky," 
in 1784, a work of much merit. It contained the first 
map ever drawn of this state, showing the three original 
counties of Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln. 

As this was before any printing presses had been 
set up in Kentucky or at any other point in the West, 
Filson carried his map to Philadelphia and his manu- 
script to Wilmington, Delaware. 

This little book of one hundred and eighteen pages was 
deemed of such consequence that one year after its 
appearance, it was translated into French and published 
by M. Parraud at Paris. Three editions were printed 
in England by Gilbert Imlay, Kentucky's first novelist, 
who incorporated it in his "Topographical Descrip- 
tion of the Western Territory." 

Not only was Filson a historian, biographer, and 
teacher, but he was also a practical, skillful surveyor. 



KENTUCKY'S PIONEER HISTORIAN 



127 



He led a restless, strenuous life. Soon after his first 
visit to Kentucky he was back on his native heath, 
again in the state of his adoption, next in the Illinois 
country gathering 
data for a history 
of that section, the 
manuscriptsof which 
are now the property 
of the Wisconsin 
Historical Society. 

In 1788 Filson 
was associated with 
Mathias Denman 
and Robert Patter- 
son, the founder of 
Lexington, in the 
purchase of a tract of 
eight hundred acres 
opposite the mouth 
of the Licking River, 
where they planned 

a town, now the city of Cincinnati, but named by 
Filson, Losantiville, — the "city opposite the mouth of 
the Licking." 

As the party deferred surve3^ing and staking off lots 
for a while, Filson's restless spirit again urged him on; 
and, after surveying the Great Miami with a party, he 
ventured still farther alone and was never seen again. 
His friends supposed he was killed by the Indians ; 




John Filson. 



? 



128 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

but there is no record of the time, place, or manner of 
his death, and nothing to mark his grave. His name 
has been aptly given to that body of earnest, eminent 
workers of Louisville, the Filson Club, who have done 
so much to collect and preserve the many interesting 
facts about Kentucky's early days. 

SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

Kentucky, the land of soldiers and statesmen, has 
erected in the hearts of her patriotic sons a monument, 
ever enduring, to Clark, Logan, Bowman, Scott, Shelby, 
Hardin, and scores of others whose work and courage 
won for us this fair domain. It can be truly said of 
each : 

" An empire is his sepulcher, 
His epitaph is fame." 

Though these brave men had conquered the wild 
beasts and barbarous red men, there were still other 
forces to meet. When this far-away West, between the 
Alleghenies and the Mississippi River, began to prosper, 
homes were built, forests became fields, and products 
sought a market. As railroads were undreamed of, 
nature's method of transportation was their only out- 
let. To be able to load a flatboat with corn and 
other Kentucky crops, and float down the Ohio and the 
"Father of Waters" to New Orleans, would have made 
that city a great haven for the western pioneers. But 
Spain owned the mouth, and though Great Britain had 



SPANISH CONSPIRACY 129 

ceded us free navigation of the river, Spain in the early 
nineties refused the free navigation and the right to 
deposit at New Orleans. Subsequent events will dis- 
close how long this privilege was withheld. 

We have elsewhere told how out of Fincastle County, 
Virginia, 1776, the county of Kentucky was erected, 
while in 1780 it was divided into the counties of Fayette, 
Jefferson, and Lincoln, and in 1783 thev were united 
into a Kentucky District. But so far removed was this 
district from the capital of the commonwealth, so in- 
surmountable were the natural barriers at that time, 
so inadequate was the mother state to protect the 
pioneers, that they began seriously to consider a sepa- 
ration and the erection of another member of the 
general government. Yet so great was their love for 
Virginia, it was onl}^ with the most delicate suggestion 
they began. Convention after convention met and 
adjourned with nothing more accomplished than a 
postponement of the desire nearest their hearts. 

Vainly the people who had subdued this wilderness 
petitioned. Futile were the efforts of the national 
Congress or of the commonwealth of Virginia to grant 
their prayers. We can scarcely censure General 
James Wilkinson for wishing to cut the "Gordian knot 
of difficulty" by immediate separation and the erection 
of an independent government. At the same time the 
subtle music of the siren's song fell upon the ears of 
those who had won their homes through privations. 

In June, 1785, Don Gardoqui was sent by the Spanish 

PURCELl's KENTUCKY 9 



I30 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

government to treat with the American government on 
any subject of dispute. The Honorable John Jay was 
commissioned to meet him, but the far-seeing members 
of Congress fortunately put the following check upon 
Mr. Jay : **That he enter into no treaty, compact, 
nor convention whatever with the said representative 
of Spain, which did not stipulate the right of the United 
States to the navigation of the Mississippi and bound- 
aries as established by their treaty with Great Britain." 
In a few months. Jay urged upon Congress a com- 
mercial treaty, which would, he claimed, redound to 
the benefit of the United States ; the consideration on 
her part was "she should forbear the use of the naviga- 
tion of the Mississippi for twenty-five or thirty years." 
Jay, that had stood "like a stone wall" at Madrid and 
Paris, was now willing to barter away the privileges 
of the nation for a mere sectional gain. Happily, only 
seven of the requisite nine states voted favorably, and 
the chimerical plot failed. The facilities for knowing 
the actions of Congress were not nearly so great then 
as now; so when a communication was made, 1787, 
from Pittsburgh by "A Committee of Correspondence 
for Western Pennsylvania" to Kentucky pioneers, viz. : 
"That John Jay, the American Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs, had made a proposition to Don Gardoqui, the 
Spanish minister to the United States, to cede the navi- 
gation of the Mississippi to Spain for twenty-five or 
thirty years, in consideration of some commercial 
advantages to be granted to the United States ; but such 



SPANISH CONSPIRACY 131 

as the western country could derive no profit from," 
the eflPect may be easily imagined. 

The people sent out a circular letter and prepared 
to hold a convention to oppose such oppression ; but 
learning that the project had failed, after merely meet- 
ing and discussing the subject, they adjourned without 
any action upon it. 

In June, 1787, General James Wilkinson secured the 
privilege from General Miro, Commandante, of ship- 
ping a vast quantity of tobacco to New Orleans annually 
and of depositing it in the government's warehouse. 
More than ever he now urged the importance to Ken- 
tuckians of the free navigation of this great river, 
and the right to deposit at New Orleans. Meanwhile, 
the Honorable John Brown of Danville had been chosen 
to represent the Kentucky District in Congress. Again 
the frontiersmen were doomed to disappointment when 
news came that the government had postponed the 
admittance of Kentucky, indeed, would refer the ques- 
tion to the new government. 

As Don Gardoqui had failed in his scheme with John 
Jay, he now very opportunely sought Representative 
Brown ; with what effect ma}^ be read in this part of 
a letter from Mr. Brown to Samuel McDowell, presi- 
dent of the various Kentucky conventions: *'In a 
conversation I had with Mr. Gardoqui, the Spanish 
minister, relative to the navigation of the Mississippi, 
he stated that, if the people of Kentucky would erect 
themselves into an independent state and appoint a 



132 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

proper person to negotiate with him, he had authority 
for that purpose, and would enter into an arrangement 
with them for the exportation of their produce to 
New Orleans on terms of mutual advantage." In a 
letter to Judge Muter, Mr. Brown sets forth the 
same, and in addition says: ''This privilege can never 
be extended to them while part of the United States, 
by reason of commercial treaties existing between that 
court and other powers of Europe." 

In 1788, at Danville, sat the seventh convention 
earnestly endeavoring to be loyal to both the people 
and the parent state. In this assembly General Wil- 
kinson said : "There is one way and but one way, 
that I know for obviating these difficulties, and that is 
so fortified by constitutions and guarded by laws, that 
it is dangerous of access and hopeless of attainment, 
under present circumstances." He dilated on the 
population, production, and prosperity of the country 
and its inalienable rights to the Mississippi. With 
natural adroitness, he caused the Honorable John Brown 
to tell the convention, "That provided, we are unani- 
mous, everything we could wish for is within our reach." 
Wilkinson also read a message he had addressed to the 
"Intendant of Louisiana" wherein he urged that 
should Spain persist in her refusal of the navigation of 
the Mississippi and cause a resort to arms. Great Britain 
would join the western people in securing it, and thus 
all Spanish-America would be endangered. Whatever 
individual profit Wilkinson derived from his connection 



SPANISH CONSPIRACY 133 

with the Spanish authorities may be forgotten when 
we reahze that he and the court party he represented 
would forever have fought any act to lose to Kentucky 
the navigation of the Mississippi. 

June I, 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state, 
and at last some of her trials were over. Still the 
British retained their forts and the Indians continued 
their depredations. At this time, the Revolution was 
shaking France from center to circumference. Remem- 
bering the aid of the French allies in our war for liberty 
and hating England with an implacable hatred, many 
of our people, especially the Kentuckians, were pre- 
pared to rally around the French flag. 

Democratic clubs, modeled after the Jacobean clubs 
of France, sprang up ; and the one at Lexington was so 
urgent as to pass the following resolution : 

"That the right of the people on the waters of the 
Mississippi to the navigation thereof was undoubted, 
and it ought to be peremptorily demanded of Spain 
by the United States." 

In November, 1793, the persons sent to Kentucky 
by Genet to arrange an expedition against the Spaniards 
at the mouth of the Mississippi, found a field ripe for 
harvest. They raised a company of two thousand 
men and induced General George R. Clark, at the head 
of the expedition, to accept the position of ''Major 
general in the armies of France and commander in chief 
of the revolutionary legions on the Mississippi." He 
then proceeded to call for volunteers to reduce the 



134 SPANISH CONSPIRACY 

Spanish forts on the Mississippi, and open it for free 
navigation. Flattering offers were made to all who 
would engage. Governor Shelby of Kentucky felt it 
was beyond his jurisdiction to attempt to restrain 
these forces. So, early in 1794, President Washington 
warned the people of the unlawfulness of such an 
undertaking, and the dangers of such an expedition. 
General Wayne was ordered to Fort Massac, to prevent 
the descent of armed men. Soon after. Genet was re- 
called, and his acts disavowed, and Washington's 
"friendship for all, but entangling alliances with none" 
was the policy of the hour. 

In the summer of 1795, Governor Carondelet of 
Louisiana sent a messenger to Judge Benjamin Sebas- 
tian of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, requesting 
him to send agents to New Madrid to negotiate with 
Colonel Gayoso on the subject of the Mississippi and 
regulation of commerce between the local authorities 
at New Orleans and the people of Kentucky. In the 
latter part of the year. Judge Sebastian went to New 
Madrid, thence to New Orleans, where he secured the 
promise of the navigation of the Mississippi and New 
Orleans as a place of deposit, with duty payable only 
on imports. Fortunately for posterity, news came that 
in October, 1795, a treaty was consummated with Spain 
which acknowledged the United States as extending 
southward to 31°, and westward to the middle of the 
Mississippi. It granted us the free navigation of that 
stream and the right of deposit at New Orleans for a 



A KENTUCKY INVENTOR 



135 



period of three years, and a promise to continue these 
privileges longer. 

Whether or not the proposals of Don Gardoqui and 
Baron Carondelet were merely a commercial considera- 
tion on the part of Spain, yet dastardly in the extreme 
were the futile attempts she made in 1797 to have Ken- 
tucky withdraw from the Union, seize Fort Massac, 
and become an independent government. 

Mone}^ and arms galore were promised those in- 
famous enough to enter into this conspiracy to extend 
the northern boundary of Spain's possessions east of 
the Mississippi to the Yazoo. Again Spanish con- 
spiracy received a blow. 

A KENTUCKY INVENTOR 

Though the stalwart pioneers, dressed in their 
primitive suits of deerskin or homespun, pushed farther 
and farther into Kentucky, stopping not for privation 
or peril, danger or disaster, climbing cliffs, fording 
streams, fighting savages, yet they were not all merely 
unlettered backwoodsmen hunters and fighters. 
Though the education of nearly all was more or less 
limited, a number of these early courageous Kentuck- 
ians have made unusual contributions to the useful 
sciences. If not the birthplace, Kentucky was the home 
and the burial place of a trio who can claim priority 
in the invention of the steamboat. 

In 1778 there came to Kentucky from Connecticut 



136 A KENTUCKY INVENTOR 

a man of vigorous intellect and remarkable powers of 
perseverance, John Fitch. He had formerly been a 
silversmith, clock maker, and lieutenant in the Revolu- 
tionary forces from New Jersey. Though made cap- 
tive by the Indians and held prisoner for a year, yet 
in 1780, as he gazed upon the beautiful Ohio, he had 
the first conception of overcoming currents by a new 




Fitch's steamboat. 

mode of navigation. Retiring to his surveyor's camp 
he pondered, and, remembering the work of Watt with 
steam, concluded that boats could be propelled by the 
same power. 

The story of his struggles, in petitions and disap- 
pointments, reminds one of Columbus, as he so long 
in vain sought aid to make his first voyage to 
America. In 1787, 1788, and 1789, Fitch built several 
boats, that made from four to seven and one half miles 
per hour between Philadelphia and Burlington. He 
petitioned the legislatures of a number of states as well 



A KENTUCKY INVENTOR 137 

as England, France, and Spain, and obtained not 
money, but the exclusive privileges of navigating cer- 
tain streams by boats propelled by fire or steam. He 
became discouraged and finally despaired ; he died at 
Bardstown, 1798, where his remains rest. 

A pathetic circumstance connected with his invention 
is related. He wrote three volumes of manuscript, 
sealed them, and placed them in the Philadelphia Li- 
brary to be opened thirty years after his death. When 
opened, they touchingl}^ related his disappointments, 
brilliantly foretold the perfection of his plans, and 
sorrowfully and bitterly said, "The day will come when 
some more powerful man will get fame and riches from 
my invention; but nobody will believe that poor John 
Fitch can do anything worthy of attention." 

By a coincidence two others, who chose Kentucky 
as their home, James Rumsey and Edward West, also 
were pioneers in this work. Both Fitch and Rumsey 
in 1784 exhibited their plans to General Washington. 
While Rumsey made his project public first, by means 
of a model, Fitch successfulh^ plied a boat on the 
Delaware in 1785 and Rumsey on the Potomac the 
following year. Fitch claimed that he told Rumsey 
of his own plans to effect navigation by steam. In 
1794, in the presence of hundreds of citizens, a miniature 
boat invented by Edward West, who had removed 
from Virginia to Lexington in 1785, proudly moved 
through the waters of the town branch of the Elkhorn, 
which had been dammed up near the center of the city. 



138 OTHER KENTUCKY INVENTIONS 

In 1802 Mr. West secured a patent not only for his 
steamboat invention, but for a gun lock and a nail 
cutting and heading machine, the first invention of the 
kind in the world, reputed to cut five thousand three 
hundred and twenty pounds of nails in twelve hours. 
The patent of it sold for $10,000 and its operation 
enabled Lexington to export nails of her own manufac- 
ture to Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh. 

So, while it remained for Robert Fulton in 1807 to 
gain honor from his invention, yet when in 181 3 he 
brought suit to establish his claims as the inventor of 
steam navigation, he was defeated by a pamphlet of 
John Fitch's, which proved conclusively there were in- 
ventions that antedated the Clermont. 



OTHER KENTUCKY INVENTIONS 

In 1792, the year that Kentucky became a state, 
there came to Lexington a man named Nathan Burrov/s, 
who was a pioneer, not only as a settler, but as an in- 
ventor of the manufacture of hemp and a machine for 
cleaning it. He failed to reap any real benefit from 
this, but later manufactured a mustard that took a 
premium at the World's Fair in England in 1851. 

Another resident of Lexington, John Jones, in 1803 
invented a machine for sawing stone, and a speeder 
spindle. 

It remained for a Kentuckian, Dr. Joseph Buchanan, 
while a student of medicine at Lexington in 1805, to 



OTHER KENTUCKY INVENTIONS 139 

originate the conception of the music of Hght to be 
accompHshed by means of harmonific colors, luminously 
displayed, and to invent an instrument that produced 
its music from glasses of different chemical composition. 

Lexington, then the Athens of the West, was for 
many 3^ears the home of a native Kentuckian, a Mr. 
Barlow, whose fertile mind made him the most cele- 
brated of this group of interesting inventors. Having 
built a steamboat at Augusta, after his removal to 
Lexington, he invented in 1 826-1 827 a steam loco- 
motive for a railroad with a car attached for two passen- 
gers, with power to ascend an elevation of eighty feet 
to a mile. An oval track was constructed for it in a 
room. It was opened to the public for exhibition and 
several took rides at fifty cents a ticket on the first 
"railroad train" ever run successfully in western 
America. This was sold to a Mr. Samuel Robb, who 
exhibited the novelty at various cities including Louis- 
ville, Nashville, Memphis, and New Orleans ; at the 
latter place it was burned while on exhibition. In 
1837 Mr. Barlow built another locomotive and like- 
wise sold it to a person who traveled and exhibited it. 

The versatile mind of Mr. Barlow also produced a nail 
and tack machine, which was at once purchased and 
put into use b}^ some capitalists. His rifled cannon, 
invented in 1840, patented later, caused Congress 
to appropriate three thousand dollars for an experi- 
mental gun, which, when finished and tested, was of 
greater accuracy and range than was even expected. 



I40 THE MAN WHO KNEW ABOUT BIRDS 

and which is beheved to have suggested most of the 
rifled guns since patented in both America and Europe. 

The crowning invention of this great genius was his 
wonderfully complex production, a planetarium, that 
perfectly imitated the motions of the solar system, the 
first and only instrument of the kind in the world. 
This was so perfected as to produce the minute relative 
revolutions of the planets. The first instrument 
was sold to Girard College, Philadelphia. A num- 
ber of small ones were later made for colleges and 
institutions, and one large one for the Military 
Academy at West Point, one for the Naval Academy at 
Annapolis, and one for New Orleans. 

Some of these brought two thousand dollars each. 
One was exhibited at the World's Fair Exhibition, 
Paris, France, 1867, as Kentucky's contribution, and 
received the highest premium awarded any illustrative 
apparatus. 

THE MAN WHO KNEW ABOUT BIRDS 

Kentucky is noted for her great hunters, Indian 
fighters, orators, and statesmen. But there also lived 
in this state for awhile — some of the time at Louisville, 
part of the time at Henderson — a man who knew 
more about birds than any one had ever learned before. 

This was John James Audubon. He was born in 
Louisiana near New Orleans, and lived several years in 
France, where he enjoyed every luxury. In after life. 



THE MAN WHO KNEW ABOUT BIRDS 141 

when he spent many years traveling through the forest, 
hunting, and studjang the birds, — their homes and 
their habits, — he often went for days and days with 
very primitive food. He said his first recollections 
were of his home in the South, where he would 
lie among the flowers and listen to the songs of the 
mocking birds. While yet a boy he gathered birds' 
nests, birds' eggs, curious stones, and moss. He would 
kill and stuff the birds ; but these failed to satisfy him, 
as their plumage was not bright like that of the live 
birds. So he began to make pictures of the birds 
instead. This was done many, many times before 
he was satisfied, for he wanted lifelike pictures of his 
feathered friends. 

He married a young lady in Pennsylvania, and 
brought her down the Ohio in a flat-bottomed float 
called an ark, — a rather tiresome method for a wedding 
trip. 

He entered into business in Louisville with bright 
prospects, but hunting and studying birds had more 
fascination for Audubon than trade. Finally, competi- 
tion becoming too strong, he and his partner shipped 
their goods to Henderson or Hendersonville ; but busi- 
ness not being good, and the roving instinct strong, 
the stay was brief, and Audubon made another change. 

A few years later he returned to Henderson when he, 
with several partners, attempted to operate a steam 
mill ; but the place was not suitable, every one con- 
cerned lost his money, and Audubon departed with 



142 



THE MAN WHO KNEW ABOUT BIRDS 



only his sick wife, gun, drawings, and dog. Still he 

never despaired. 

Audubon spent most of his time in Kentucky, 

rambling in the wilds, and persons in both Louisville 

and Henderson have 
often spoken of seeing 
him come in with his 
great quota of game. 
He said Kentucky was a 
"sort of promised land 
for all sorts of wander- 
ing adventurers." 

While Audubon en- 
joyed, to the fullest, 
studying his favorite 
subject, birds, yet there 
were many difficulties 
to encounter and many 
deprivations to under- 
go. He had to travel 
many thousand miles, 
sometimes using the 
breasts of wild turkeys 

for bread and bear's grease for butter, sometimes living 

on only fruits and roots, sometimes having to quit this 

enchanting work for a while and turn dancing master 

or artist to procure funds. 

After Audubon had traveled, studied, written, and 

made many hundred drawings^ rats got into his box 




John James Audubon. 



A HERO OF HONOR 143 

and cut up all his papers ; for a while he was almost 
heartbroken and could scarcely eat or sleep. Finally, 
with true courage, he said, *'I will make more drawings 
and make them better than any the rats cut up." 
So he persevered and, with the aid of his wife, who 
encouraged and inspired him in his great work, and 
gladly gave of her salary as a teacher to defray expenses, 
he at last went to Europe to arrange for its publication. 
He was made a member of the Royal Society at 
Edinburgh, concerning which he wrote his faithful wife, 
"So, poor Audubon, if not rich, thou wilt be honored 
at least and held in high esteem among men." In 
another letter he said, "I have run the gantlet of 
Europe and may be proud of two things, — I am 
considered the first ornithological painter and the first 
practical naturalist of America." His *' Birds of 
America" contains pictures of one thousand sixty-five 
birds, natural size. His work has been called the "most 
magnificent monument that has been erected to orni- 
thology," and all over our land Audubon Societies have 
been formed to protect our friends in feathers. 

A HERO OF HONOR 

It takes neither the excitement of war nor the 
curious, conditions of the far Orient to prove a man 
a hero of the highest type. Martial music, the roar 
of the cannon, the thud of the musket, and the flash 
of the saber have inspired many men to deeds of 



144 A HERO OF HONOR 

valor. We find incontrovertible evidence of this in 
every battle's record. These are accepted as facts 
with no fancy interwoven. But when we read of how 
Damon offered to stay in the place of his friend, Pythias, 
condemned to death, with the knowledge that if Pythias 
did not return by the hour appointed for the execution, 
he, himself, would be called upon to make the sacrifice ; 
how he prayed that his friend would fail to come, but 
how that friend, by every conceivable plan, purposely 
came in time to accept his fate, — -we sometimes wonder 
if any friendship could withstand such a test or any 
person's pledge be held in such exalted estimation. 
In the early days of Kentucky, when the shrill 
whistle of the locomotive had not yet reverberated 
among the hills, when the red schoolhouse was not 
found in every locality, nor the moonlight schools had 
wiped out illiteracy among the mountaineers, there 
dwelt in Lewis County a man by the name of Larkin 
Liles. He was the hardy son of a hardy race, who 
hunted and trapped, Hved and loved ; and while he 
knew not a letter of the alphabet, had never attended 
school a day in his life, nor heard the golden rule, yet 
his rugged honesty and high sense of honor can never 
be surpassed. The *' benevolent qualities of head and 
heart by a primeval decree are not dependent on edu- 
cation, for although it enlightens and enlarges the 
mind of man, it does not always ennoble it." So this 
man, versed in naught but the backwoodsman's lore, 
gave the world a lesson in honor. 



A HERO OF HONOR 145 

On one occasion, when at Vanceburg in the above- 
named county, and while under the influence of whiskey, 
he became involved in a rough-and-tumble fight with 
very serious results. For this ofl^ense he was tried, 
found guilty, and sentenced to serve one year in the 
penitentiary. It so happened that the sheriflF of Lewis 
County at this time was a personal friend of "Jay- 
bird" Liles, and knew the soul of honor hidden by this 
rough exterior. 

After leaving the courtroom, the prisoner, in a voice 
husky with emotion, said, "Uncle Buck," — everyone 
called the sheriff of Lewis County by this title, — 
"Uncle Buck, won't you let me go home and get in 
my winter's wood and fix to have my corn crap gathered, 
to fatten my hogs, to keep the young-uns on ? Then 
I's come over to Clarksburg and go with 3^e to the 
penitentiary." 

Sheriff Parker asked, "How long will it take ye, 
Jay-bird.?" 

"About two weeks," he replied. 

Then the magnanimity of the man shone forth, 
— some might say overcame the discretion of the 
officer, — when the sheriff replied, "Go ahead and do 
it." But so well did he know the pride with which 
"Jay-bird" Liles kept a promise, that he was as con- 
fident of his return at the promised time, as was Damon 
that Pythias would return. 

The wood was cut, an arrangement was made con- 
cerning the crop, the good-by kiss was given to his 

PURCELl's KENTUCKY lO 



146 A HERO OF HONOR 

weeping wife and helpless babes, and, feeling he was 
going on such a distant trip that he would never again 
return, Larkin Liles, just two weeks to the day and 
hour from the time of the above conversation, walked 
into the sheriff's office ready to be taken to Frankfort. 

When he told "Uncle Buck" that he was ready to 
start, the sheriff shook his hand and told him to spend 
the night with him, and on the morrow they would 
take the boat for Maysville, and from there go by 
stage to Lexington, and on to Frankfort. Again 
"Jay-bird's" voice trembled as he thought of the 
disgrace of being publicly taken by the sheriff to the 
penitentiary; and again he made a most singular re- 
quest. "Say, Uncle Buck, Fd rather not do it. You 
go that way ; but let me take my gun and walk through 
the mountains to Frankfort, won't ye .? Fd rather do 
that, and maybe I might kill some game on the road. 
Fll meet you on any spot, on any day you appoint." 

What do you suppose the sheriff replied ? Looking 
him straight in the eye he answered, ''AH right, Jay- 
bird, suit yourself. Frankfort lies right in yon direc- 
tion ; you can't miss it. When you reach Frankfort, 
go straight to the governor's office and tell him what 
you are there for, if I don't get there first." 

Then this rugged mountaineer, this unlettered, un- 
polished son of the hills, with honor as his watchword, 
dressed in the primitive style of the time and place, 
with his trusty rifle, started over the hills, through 
vales, and across streams to meet the sheriff at Frank- 



A HERO OF HONOR 147 

fort, one hundred and fifty miles away, where he would 
hear the lock snap as it closed the door that would 
shut him in from freedom and friends. 

Early one June morning, two days later, before the 
people of Frankfort were abroad, a tall, gaunt, deter- 
mined-looking backwoodsman, in buckskin clothes 
and a coonskin cap, looking as if he belonged to the 
days of Daniel Boone, made his way to the governor's 
mansion and quietly seated himself on a stone. As 
Governor Clark started from the mansion after break- 
fast, he was astonished to see this man of the moun- 
tains, who quickly inquired, "Say, Mister, be you the 
governor .^" 

"Yes, my man, I am the governor. What can I 
do for you ?" 

"Well, Governor, my name is Larkin Liles, and I 
come up here from Lewis County to get into the 
penitentiary for one year. Hed you saw anything 
of Buck Parker .^" 

Utterly astounded. Governor Clark asked, "Who is 
Buck Parker ?" 

"Why, Buck Parker is the high sheriff of Lewis 
County, Kaintucky. I thought everybody knowed 
that. We all call him 'Uncle Buck' Parker. He was 
to come by stage and meet me here. I walked 
through." 

While Governor Clark was eying him and trying 
to realize that such unheard-of proceedings had actually 
happened, ''Jay-bird" said anxiously, "Say, Governor, 



148 



A HERO OF HONOR 




Well, Governor, my name is Larkin Liles. 



the sheriff ain't here yit, and I don't want to lose no 
time. Can't you let me into the penitentiary and 
tell Buck Parker whar he can find me when he 



comes 



A HERO OF HONOR 149 

More astonished than ever, Governor Clark said, 
*'Have you had your breakfast, Mr. Liles?" 

With a shake of the head, "Jay-bird" said that he 
had traveled all night and upon reaching the city had 
come straight to the governor. The governor at 
once took him in, gave him his breakfast, and told 
him to go over to the capitol, until he could learn 
more about the case. 

Ten hours later, the sheriff came by stage and soon 
found "Jay-bird" at the governor's office. When 
the sheriff introduced himself to Governor Clark, the 
governor immediately asked if it was a fact that this 
man, condemned to a year of confinement and hard 
work in the penitentiary, had trudged on foot alone 
all the way from Lewis County. When told it was just 
as "Jay-bird" had said, the governor, in amazement, 
asked, " Is the man crazy ? Couldn't he have escaped ^ " 

"Easily, and all the sheriffs, constables, and rewards 
could never have caught him. No, 'Jay-bird' is not 
simple; he is only honest." The governor was so 
interested he asked for all the details. 

Then "Uncle Buck" told of the fight, the trial, and 
the conviction, of how "Jay-bird" had kept his word 
when permitted to go to say good-by to his loved 
ones, of his long life of honesty and hospitality, and 
of how he had begged to come alone on foot to Frank- 
fort, rather than as a common, convicted felon. 

With a heart heaving with emotion and e^^es dim 
with tears, the executive hastily affixed his name 



150 THE "PRIDE OF THE PENNYRILE " 

and the seal of the commonwealth to a small piece of 
paper, and, handing it to Larkin Liles, said in a husky 
voice, "Mr. Liles, go home to your family and kiss the 
little ones for me. You shall never enter the peni- 
tentiary while Clark is governor of Kentucky." 



THE ''PRIDE OF THE PENNYRILE "^ 

It is eminently proper that the metropolis of "Jack- 
son's Purchase" should bear a name of Indian origin. 
Although the greater part of Kentucky, with its fertile 
meadowlands, towering forests, and tangled cane- 
brakes, was only the hunting ground of the red men, 
yet all that territory in Kentucky and Tennessee lying 
between the Tennessee and Mississippi rivers was 
the home of the Chickasaw Indians. This large 
tribe had their main town at Chickasaw Bluffs, where 
Memphis now stands, with a number of other settle- 
ments scattered throughout this seven million acres of 
fertile lands. 

As Kentucky was once a part of Virginia, and as 
the "Old Dominion" was a British colony, this section 
was once claimed by Great Britain. After the Revolu- 
tionary War, Virginia, relying on the former policy of 
the mother country, that, 

" They should take who have the power, 
And they should keep who can," 

1 For some of the facts in this chapter, the author is indebted to Mr. 
Irvin S. Cobb. 



THE "PRIDE OF THE PENNYRILE" 151 

allowed George Rogers Clark, in recognition of his 
services in the Northwest Territory, to enter several 
thousand acres of land, including the present site of 
the capital of McCracken County. 

At that time there were no white settlements in this 
section; but as early as the year 1806 or 1807 there 
was a flatboat landing and woodyard at the mouth of 
the Tennessee River, kept by a genial Irishman named 
Pat Dugan. The first name given the place, and the 
one by which it was known for many years, was Pekin. 
On October 19, 1818, through Governor Isaac Shelby 
and General Andrew Jackson, commissioners, the 
United States bought from the Chickasaw Indians 
their tract referred to above, which in the present 
state of Kentucky includes the counties of Ballard, 
Calloway, Carlisle, Fulton, Graves, Hickman, Marshall, 
and McCracken. 

For many years the hero of Kaskasia, Cahokia, and 
Vincennes had been infirm and poor. We all remem- 
ber the touching scene when the Virginia commission 
presented him a sword in recognition of his great ser- 
vices to the United States ; the old soldier Hstened in 
gloomy silence for a while and, finally, thrusting the 
sword into the ground and breaking it, he exclaimed, 
'' When Virginia needed a sword I found one. Now I 
want bread 1 " By the treaty just mentioned the title 
of George Rogers Clark was made clear, but as he had 
died a few months previous to this his tract passed 
to his brother. General William Clark, of St. Louis, 



152 THE -PRIDE OF THE PENNYRILE " 

who had accompanied Meriwether Lewis on the noted 
Lewis and Clark Expedition. 

A few years after, General William Clark came to the 
little town of Pekin accompanied by an Indian chief 
who had become a friend of his while on his Western 
trip. 

In Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia," he speaks of a 
tribe of Indians called "Paducahs." In the ''Hand- 
book of American Indians" we find that the "Paducahs" 
belonged to the warlike Comanches, this being the name 
given them b}^ the Spaniards. There is in Texas a 
small town of about one thousand five hundred in- 
habitants, named Paducah from this tribe of Indians. 

Paducah, Kentucky, is named, not from the tribe, but 
from an individual Indian. In his diary of the Lewis 
and Clark Expedition, General William Clark speaks 
more than once of the kindness shown his party by a 
scattered branch of the Paducahs, and of how their 
chief became his friend. Dr. Catlin tells, in speaking 
of the tribes of the West, of a chief of the Mandans, 
Indians that often intermarried with the Comanches, 
named "Paducheyeh," meaning "tall or upstanding 
chestnut tree." Whether or not he was the one who 
became the friend of General Clark we do not know, 
but when the Comanches came southward, their old 
chief, called Paducah, went to. St. Louis, and then 
came with General Clark on a visit to the town of 
Pekin, where he died with fever, and was buried near 
Third Street just beyond Tennessee. 



LUCY JEFFERSON LEWIS 153 

A log cabin was placed around his grave, and pioneer 
residents have told of a part\" of Indians coming from 
beyond the Mississippi and holding ceremonies over 
Paducah's grave. These were Comanches, or to use 
their tribal name, Paducahs. 

Whether the individual name of the old chief who 
had befriended General Clark was one of the many 
varied spellings of Paducah, or whether General Clark 
called him by his tribal name instead, we know not. 
Yet there was a real chief in recognition of whose 
kindness the "Pride of the Pennyrile" was named 
Paducah. 

LUCY JEFFERSON LEWIS 

As travelers on the waters of *'La Belle Riviere'' 
pass between the historic town of Smithland and the 
unpretentious hamlet of Birdsville, few are aware 
that they are within a mile or two of the grave of a 
younger sister of the writer of our Magna Charta. 

Though Lucy Jefferson Lewis was the sister of the 
man to whom we owe our American decimal coin- 
age system, our statute for religious freedom, our 
Declaration of Independence, the University of Vir- 
ginia, and the Democratic party; though she was the 
wife of Dr. Charles L. Lewis, brother of the noted 
Meriwether Lewis ; and though she was blessed with 
wealth, culture, love, and family; yet to-day she sleeps 
in an unmarked grave in Livingston County. 



154 LUCY JEFFERSON LEWIS 

Filled with enthusiasm for the then far West, the 
Lewis family, in 1808, ten years after Livingston 
County was formed, moved to Kentucky, purchased a 
tract of land about three miles from Smithland, and 
on a lonely, rocky hill overlooking the beautiful Ohio, 
raised their rooftree, and with their Virginia slaves, 
began a home in the wilderness. 

Some say that Dr. Lewis came with his wife, 
children, and servants; others, that he did not 
come until eight or nine months after the family 
arrived. Be that as it may, all agree that he was 
unsociable and moody, and that he soon tired of 
his primitive abode and left, they supposed, for his 
former Virginia home. All alone with her children 
and servants in the Western wilds, is it any marvel 
that Lucy Jefferson Lewis should sigh for the happy 
home of her youth ? 

On a lonely, rocky promontory, where she could gaze 
far up the river, she would sit day after day, straining 
her eyes to see if there might be a "broadhorn" com- 
ing with news from her dearly beloved Virginia. 
If one was spied, a servant was at once sent out in a 
small boat to bring to her the long-wished-for papers. 
But this rare Virginia flower did not long survive 
transplantation, and in 181 1 she was buried near her 
new home, with only a rough stone from the hillside 
to mark her last resting place. 

Only a few short months afterward, there was enacted 
by two of her sons, Lilburn and Isham, a miost revolting 



NATURAL CURIOSITIES IN KENTUCKY 155 

tragedy. Then Lilburn died and it is said Isham, 
under an assumed name, entered the volunteer army 
and fell at the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 181 5. 
The other son and three daughters left on file, m 
the county clerk's office at Smithland, a writing dated 
August 29, 1814, conferring upon Thomas Jefferson 
the power of attorney to recover certain lands for them 
in Albemarle County, Virginia. They subsequently 
married, moved into other states, and nothing is left 
to mark the homestead but a pile of rocks. Three 
sunken places, overgrown with the wild wood, show 
the last resting place of Lucy Jefferson Lewis, her 
son Lilburn, and his wife, while the cold autumnal 
winds, sighing through the treetops, chant a sad 
requiem above the lonely, deserted spot. 

NATURAL CURIOSITIES IN KENTUCKY 

Kentucky, rich in minerals, fertile soil, varied 
forests, and diversified products, is also a land where 
Nature has been lavish with her curiosities. 

Some of the most important natural curiosities are 
the following: In Boone County there is Split Hill, 
where a deep zigzag path of great extent has been 
formed; in Breckinridge County there is Sinking 
Creek, a stream so large and powerful that it drives 
machinery the entire year ; at a point about six miles 
from its source it disappears and shows no trace for 
more than five miles, when it reappears and flows 



156 NATURAL CURIOSITIES IN KENTUCKY 

into the Ohio. As early as 1847, a Mr. Huston utilized, 
for a mill erected on this stream, a natural dam of 
rock, eight feet in height and forty feet in width. 

In Carter County there are also two smaller streams 
that flow for some distance underground. In the 
same county, in early days, there was an artesian well 
that threw up a jet, about the size of a barrel, to a 
height of four feet. 

Christian County contains also some sinking streams, 
forks of Little River, beside Pilot Rock, which rests 
upon elevated ground, has a comparatively level 
summit, covers about one half acre of ground, and is 
about two hundred feet high. This county also con- 
tains a natural bridge, which crosses a deep ravine 
with an artistic arch of sixty feet, and is thirty feet in 
height. 

Picturesque falls, ninety feet high, are found in 
Clinton County, while *'Rock House," forty feet high 
and about sixty feet square, is located in Cumberland. 

In Edmonson County, besides the wonderful Mam- 
moth Cave, there is "Dismal Rock," almost perpen- 
dicular and one hundred and sixty-three feet high. 

In Grant County, for many years an object of great 
curiosity, was an immense poplar tree, nine feet in 
diameter; it is said a man on horseback, after it lay 
prostrate, could barely touch the top of the trunk 
with the tips of his fingers. 

A natural fortification, a circular tableland, from 
fifty to one hundred and twenty-five feet high, impos- 



NATURAL CURIOSITIES IN KENTUCKY 157 

sible of ascent except in one place, is an object of 
great interest in Hancock County. 

In Jessamine County, amid awful grandeur and 
gloom, the Devil's Pulpit is found, with a total eleva- 
tion of three hundred feet. 

In Lincoln County the Knobs, some with a base one 
hundred and fifty yards in diameter, two hundred 
feet high, and entirely destitute of vegetation, attract 
great attention. 

Mantel Rock, or Natural Bridge, in Livingston 
County, in picturesqueness rivals the far-famed Natural 
Bridge of Virginia. This rock, resting against the 
hillside, is eight and three fourths feet thick and twenty 
feet wide; its arch spans two hundred and twenty feet. 
One of the paintings that attracted most attention in 
the Kentucky building at the St. Louis World's Fair 
was the artistic reproduction of this picturesque place 
by Mrs. Georgia McGrew Edwards. 

In Lyon County, near Eddyville, 1848, several men 
explored a cavern for half a mile, where a large stream 
of water, an underground river, was found to be flowing. 

About three miles from Benton, in Marshall County, 
on a high hill, there is a lake about sixty yards in 
diameter, whose depth is unknown ; its waters neither 
rise nor fall, but stand about fifty feet above the bed 
of the creek below. 

In Meade County, between Salt River and Sinking 
Creek, are several knobs and groves that the pioneers 
used as points of observation from which to detect 



158 NATURAL CURIOSITIES IN KENTUCKY 

the movements of the Indian parties just after they 
crossed to the south side of the Ohio River. 

Bardstown, in Nelson County, is built on an elevation 
under which is a natural tunnel, several feet in diameter, 
of circular form, reaching from the eastern to the west- 
ern extremity of the eminence. 

Owen County has several objects of interest, among 
them being Point of Rocks, about seventy-five feet 
high, overhanging Deep Hole, whose depth has never 
been ascertained. 

In Rockcastle County, Bee ClifF rears its summit 
three hundred and fifty-five feet above the river ; there 
are also a number of saltpeter caves where large quan- 
tities of saltpeter were manufactured during the War 
of 1 81 2. The largest, called Great Saltpeter Cave, 
with its many rooms, some of which cover an area of 
several acres, with its subterranean river and weird 
grandeur, is a rival in all respects but size to the noted 
Mammoth Cave of Edmonson County. The Fall 
Cliffs, at some points three hundred feet in height, are 
unsurpassed in grandeur. 

Among the places of interest in Union County there 
is, standing upon level bottom land, a rock two feet 
thick, twenty feet wide, and fifty feet high which, on 
account of its spur resembling the horn of an anvil, 
is called Anvil Rock. In the same county a large 
flat rock, deeply indented with impressions of the 
human foot of various sizes as well as the distinct 
footprints of the dog is found. 



THE WORLD'S GREATEST NATURAL WONDER 159 

In Warren County, Wolf Sink, one hundred and fifty 
feet wide by three hundred feet long and in depth 
varying from twenty feet on the south side to one 
hundred and fifty feet on the north side, is an inter- 
esting place. 

The Cumberland River in its passage through Whit- 
ley County has a perpendicular fall of more than 
sixty feet, forming Cumberland Falls, a picturesque 
cascade, the roar of which can be heard sometimes for 
more than twelve miles both above and below the 
cataract. Behind the sheet of falling water one can 
pass nearly across the river bed. 

THE WORLD'S GREATEST NATURAL 
WONDER 

In Edmonson County, near Green River, was dis- 
covered in 1809, by a Mr. Hutchins, while in pursuit 
of a wounded bear, that matchless subterranean 
palace, — the Mammoth Cave. 

It consists, not of one chamber, but of many mag- 
nificent rooms, winding avenues, towering domes, bot- 
tomless pits, picturesque cataracts, mystic rivers, 
gloomy seas, and crystal lakes, on five different levels. 
Geologists agree that this immense cavern was carved 
out of the limestone ages ago, by both the mechani- 
cal and chemical action of the water. Viewmg 
the huge columns that have been formed by depositmg 
the almost infinitesimal amount of lime dissolved from 



l6o THE WORLD'S GREATEST NATURAL WONDER 

the rock, one stands in awe at the thought of the great 
span of time required for this marvelous work. 

Here no ray of sunshine hghts up the darkness ; 
here no sound breaks the silence ; here no seasons 




A view in the Mammoth Cave. 

come and go ; here no living creature — save the 
torpid bat, the sluggish lizard, the silent cricket, the 
shy rabbit-like rat, and eyeless fish — exists. 

Among the many picturesque spots in this cave 
are the Bridal Altar, formed of several pillars grouped 
into arches ; the Old Arm Chair, in which Jenny Lind 
once sat and sang; the Giant's Coffin, a massive stone, 
forty feet long, twenty feet wide, and nine feet thick, 
that fell, ages ago, from above ; Audubon Avenue ; the 
Bat Chamber, where thousands of bats spend the 



HOW REELFOOT LAKE WAS FORMED i6l 

winter clinging to the ceiling, in most places smooth 
and white as if made by a master hand ; the Devil's 
Arm Chair, a large stalagmite in which is a comfortable 
seat ; Napoleon's Breast Works ; Lover's Leap, and 
Gatewood's Dining Table ; Fat Man's Misery, River 
Hall, and Bacon Chamber, the last looking like a part 
of a pork-packing house; the Dead Sea, the Cork- 
screw, the Holy Sepulcher, Martha Washington's 
Statue, Shelby's Dome; the rivers Lethe, Echo, and 
Styx; and last the Star Chamber, sixty feet wide, 
seventy feet high, and four hundred feet long. Here 
the guide leaves you in absolute darkness for a 
while, until from his vantage ground he so illuminates 
the high ceiling that when you look upward, the 
heavens seem studded with stars ; a comet with its 
blazing tail appears, clouds cross over, midnight 
with its utter darkness comes, and finally day 
begins to dawn. 

HOW REELFOOT LAKE WAS FORMED 

About two o'clock in the morning of December i6, 
1811, the inhabitants of southwestern Kentucky, 
especially those in Fulton County, were aroused and 
alarmed by a most destructive earthquake shock 
that shook the Mississippi Valley throughout. It 
extended all along the Ohio beyond Pittsburgh, 
passed the Alleghenies, and died on the far-away 
coast of the Atlantic Ocean. 

PURCELL's KENTUCKY II 



1 62 HOW REELFOOT LAKE WAS FORMED 

The first sign of the catastrophe was distant, rum- 
bhng sounds, succeeded by continued discharges as of 
unnumbered pieces of artillery. Then the earth 
rocked, chasms yawned, columns of coal, sand, and 
water shot up, while electric flashes, shooting through 
the otherwise impenetrable darkness, added horror 
to the scene. Twenty-seven distinct shocks were 
experienced before dawn. Then shock followed shock, 
the land was overshadowed by a dense, black cloud of 
vapor to which the light imparted a purplish tinge, 
but no sunbeam penetrated the pall that overhung all. 

Lakes appeared where hills had been; elevations 
of land were found instead of lakes; the land in many 
places, miles in extent, was sunk below the level of 
the surrounding country. The current of the Missis- 
sippi was driven upstream for several hours, on 
account of an elevation in its bed ; the waters boiled 
up in huge swells and violently tossed the boats thereon ; 
sandbars gave way; huge trees crashed and disap- 
peared in the maddening billows ; the shores opened 
in wide fissures, closed, and threw huge jets of water, 
sand, and mud high above the treetops. The water 
of the river was changed to a reddish hue, thick with 
mud thrown up from its bottom, while the trembling 
surface was covered with huge masses of foam. 

From this temporary barrier, made by the upheaval 
of the bottom and the sinking of the sandbars and 
banks, the river rose five or six feet in a few minutes ; 
then the booming waters with redoubled fury rushed 



KENTUCKY VALOR IN 1812-1815 163 

forward with resistless power and carried everything 
before them. Boats, with horror-struck crews, shot 
down the decHvity "Hke arrows from the bow," and 
were overwhelmed or wrecked on snags, that had been 
thrown up from the bottom of the river, or were carried 
down in the vortexes. These shocks continued every 
day until December 21, and occasionally until February 
of the succeeding year. 

It was during this extensive and exciting convulsion 
that Reelfoot Lake, in Fulton County, made its first 
appearance. This great and singular body of water 
was formed by sand, blown out of a chasm opened 
by the earthquake, damming the waters of a creek, 
which spread over the territory and formed a lake 
twenty feet deep, from three fourths to two and a 
half miles wide, and seventeen miles long. For many 
years the tops of immense trees could be seen in the 
water by boatmen as they hunted the waterfowls or 
cast line for the fish with which it abounds. 



KENTUCKY VALOR IN 1 812-18 15 

The young republic of the United States tried to 
follow the warning of Washington, "Friendship to 
all, entangling alliances with none." Although France 
had aided us in our struggle for independence, we re- 
mained neutral when war was carried on between her 
and England. Although it was said of our President, 
that he "could not be kicked into a fight," yet, when our 



164 KENTUCKY VALOR IN 1812-1815 

commerce was well-nigh destroyed, our sailors taken 
from our vessels and forced to serve in the British 
navy, and our vessels fired upon by England's, we 
followed the policy of two of our most gifted 
Southern sons, Clay and Calhoun, and on June 18, 
1812, again declared war against Great Britain. 

When the call came for volunteers to aid the regular 
army, although Kentucky's quota was only five thou- 
sand five hundred men, from mountains and glens, 
from field and farm, from bench and bar, from every 
walk of life, came her best blood, seven thousand strong, 
volunteering their services to their country's cause. 

When one thousand five hundred men were required 
to join General Hull in his expedition against the 
savages, in the Northwest, two thousand answered 
the call, only to learn, after crossing the Ohio, that 
Hull had cowardly surrendered his army and the 
whole of Michigan territory to the British, although 
his army numbered nearly double the enemy. 

For several months, at various times and places, the 
Kentucky troops did special and eflficient service. 
In January of the succeeding year. Colonel Lewis 
with from seven hundred to one thousand Kentuck- 
ians, marched against a combined force of British and 
Indians at Frenchtown on the river Raisin, and drove 
them from the village. Three days later. General 
Winchester was told that a large force of the enemy 
was on its way to attack the victors. As the night 
was bitter cold, the precaution of stationing pickets 



KENTUCKY VALOR IN 1812-1815 165 

was neglected, and early the next morning, two thousand 
British and Indians under General Proctor suddenly 
attacked the camp. The Kentucky riflemen fought 
stubbornly for hours. Their ammunition ran low, 
but still they fought. Even when summoned to 
surrender they, Spartanlike, preferred death. But, 
being promised that their wounded would be safely 
guarded and humanely treated, they laid down their 
arms. History records how this promise on the part of 
Proctor was not kept, how the drunken Indians burned 
and tomahawked the helpless men and officers, until 
long afterward the rallying cry of the Kentuckians was, 
''Remember the river Raisin — Raisin and Revenge." 

At Fort Stephenson, one hundred and sixty men 
under Colonel Croghan of Kentucky repulsed Proctor 
with nearly four thousand. When the idolized General 
Isaac Shelby went at the head of the Kentuckians, 
all felt that he would lead them to victory. 

It is said that when Commodore Perry wrote, "We 
have met the enemy and they are ours," after his 
memorable victory on Lake Erie, that one hundred 
sharpshooters from Kentucky had aided in the capture. 
At the battle of the Thames nearly all the American 
troops were Kentuckians, and that gallant soldier, 
Colonel Richard M. Johnson, did noble service in the 
kiUing of the noted Tecumseh. When Jackson, barri- 
caded behind cotton bales at New Orleans, defeated 
Pakenham with his veteran forces, more than one fifth 
of the American soldiers were Kentucky riflemen. 



l66 A TRIUMVIRATE OF ELOQUENCE 

A TRIUMVIRATE OF ELOQUENCE 

Kentuckians, past and present, have ever been 
distinguished for their brilHant, persuasive oratory 
on the stump, at the bar, or in the forum. 

Three of the most elo- 
quent men our state claimed 
in the nineteenth century 
were Clay, Marshall, and 
Menefee. 

Wherever Thomas F. 
Marshall, a native of Ken- 
tucky, lifted up his voice, 
he entranced all with his 
profound logic, flight of 
fancy, stinging satire, and 
beauty of language. Had 
his powers of self-control 
been as great as his genius, 

Thomas F. Marshall. , . , , 

learnmg, and eloquence, no 
position in the dizzy heights would have been beyond 
his reach. But his brilliancy, his worth, and his work 
were all obscured by that dreadful blight, intemper- 
ance. Mr. Marshall's tribute to another orator and 
statesman, Richard H. Menefee, is pronounced by all 
to be one of the most graceful and eloquent passages 
in our literature. 

Born in obscurity, rising rapidly by his own energy 
and eloquence, at twenty-three Menefee was the com- 




KENTUCKIANS IN TEXAS AND MEXICO 167 



s success was 



monwealth's attorney. At the bar hi 

phenomenal. In the state 

legislature and in the United 

States Congress, where he 

served one term each, he, from 

the first, was recognized as 

a student and a statesman 

surpassed by none. His 

strength of character, his 

courage of conviction, his 

surpassing eloquence, brought 

praise from all. When at 

the height of fame, when men 

eagerly sought his counsel, 

and throngs hung upon his 

words, consumption closed his brief but brilliant life in 

his thirty-second year. 




Richard H. Menefee. 



KENTUCKIANS IN TEXAS AND MEXICO 



Among the volunteers that flocked to the support of 
Texas when she threw off the yoke of oppression there 
were many hundred Kentuckians. However, our state 
was not aggressive about the annexation of the new 
republic, which all saw might lead to war with Mexico. 

After the annexation, General Zachary Taylor, an 
adopted Kentuckian, was sent with troops to protect 
Texas, and soon war began. When Kentucky called for 
thirty companies, one hundred and five were organized. 



1 68 KENTUCKIANS IN TEXAS AND MEXICO 

At Monterey some of our bravest fell, among them 
being Major Philip N. Barbour; General William O. 
Butler was among the number severely wounded. In 
honor of their bravery on this battlefield, the Kentucky 
legislature passed complimentar}^ resolutions on the 
Louisville Legion, and presented swords to General Tay- 
lor, General Butler, and the widow of Major Barbour. 

At the bloody battle of Buena Vista, where General 
Taylor had nearly five thousand men, one fifth of the 
troops were from Kentucky. The Mexicans had a 
force more than five times the number of the Amer- 
icans, still the victory was ours. As the killed and 
wounded were eighteen per cent of the enlistment, 
Kentucky paid dearly for the glory won. 

Among the fallen were Colonel William R. McKee, 
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Clay, oldest son of the great 
statesman Henry Clay, and Adjutant Vaughn. 

When many, who had given their lives for the cause, 
were reinterred at Frankfort and a fitting monument 
was erected, on it was inscribed this quotation from 
the immortal elegy, "The Bivouac of the Dead," by 
our soldier-poet, Theodore O'Hara : 

"The muffled drum's sad roll has beat 

The soldier's last tattoo ! 
No more on life's parade shall meet. 

That brave and fallen few; 
On Fame's eternal camping ground 

Their silent tents are spread, 
And Glory guards, with solemn round, 

The bivouac of the dead." 



CLAY, THE GREAT COMMONER 



169 



CLAY, THE GREAT COMMONER 

In Hanover County, Virginia, April 12, 1777, was 
born Henry Clay, the "Millboy of the Slashes," who 
in after years became the idol of our state, 
and one of the most notable figures in 4\ -^^i 
the entire Union. . |w. H. , 

Left fatherless at the age of five ', g l| ['l''!^ > 
years, his teaching and training . mnmm^^S 
devolved upon his mother. So 
well did she perform her part that 
much of her illustrious ^^ 
son's greatness may right- /^feii^"^ 
fully be ascribed to ma- 
ternal influence. 

At the early age of 
twenty-one Henry Clay became 
a member of the bar at Lexington, 
and it was not long before hi 
genius, his eloquence, and his 
versatile powers made for 
him a name that will 
ever endure. 

He served the state ^^' " ^••'^°>' °^ '^^ Slashes." 

of his adoption in the lower house of the state legisla- 
ture for several terms. Part of that time he was 
speaker of the house, in which position the zeal, energy, 
dignity, and decision characteristic of him distinguished 
his every act. ' Later he was elected representative to 




170 



CLAY, THE GREAT COMMONER 



the lower house of the United States Congress, was re- 
elected several times, and during the entire time was 
Speaker of the House, having received the very high 
and unusual compliment of being thus chosen on the 
first day he appeared as a member of that body. 

He served as a valuable member of the commission 
which met at Ghent, Belgium, to arrange the treaty 
of peace between this country and Great Britain in 18 14. 







B^'^^m- :^^f--^m 



Henry Clay's Home, "Ashland." 

He served with marked success in the United States 
Senate; his great genius, his high patriotism, his 
boundless energy, and fiery eloquence so swayed the 
people that more than once civil war for a time was 
averted, sections were reconciled, and he won the title 
of the "Great Pacificator." 

Convinced of his duty, Henry Clay was conscientious 
in discharging it, and when he thus lost the highest 
office in the gift of the nation he uttered the memorable 
words, "I would rather be right than be President." 



THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 171 

He did not need this office to confer honor on him ; 
he would have conferred honor on the office. 

His fame was world-wide. His service as a states- 
man, his power as an orator, his courage as an antago- 
nist, his cogency of reasoning, his untiring efforts as a 
peacemaker, spread from ocean to ocean and even 
beyond the seas. When he was laid to rest at his 
beloved Ashland, high potentates, distinguished per- 
sons, and the great common people alike bowed their 
heads. 



KENTUCKY IN THE WAR BETWEEN 
THE STATES 

From Kentucky cabin homes came the two men 
who were destined to be the political leaders in the 
greatest conflict that ever shook our continent. 

In 1808, Jefferson Davis, who became the President 
and idol of the Confederacy, first saw the light in that 
part of Christian County that was afterwards erected 
into Todd. 

In 1809, Abraham Lincoln, the war President of the 
United States, was born in that part of Hardin County 
that afterwards became Larue. 

The gifted Kentuckian, Henry Clay, had by his 
pacific measures postponed war, but it was not to. be 
averted. When it came, our governor, Beriah Ma- 
goffin, attempted neutrality, and refused to raise troops 
for either army. From many homes, however, went 



172 THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 

soldiers to each side ; friend was arrayed against 
friend, brother against brother, and father against 
son. The hour of patriotism, danger, and privation 
had come. When the first gun in the war was fired 
at Fort Sumter, South CaroHna, a native Kentuckian, 
Major Robert Anderson of the United States army, 
commanded the garrison. 

On our soil both Confederate and Federal forces 
were raised. Various towns were occupied and forti- 
fied by soldiers, at some places under the Stars and 
Bars, at other places under the Stars and Stripes. 

The boys that wore the gray entered Kentucky and 
fortified themselves at Columbus and Hickman under 
Major General Leonidas Polk, and at Cumberland 
Gap under General ZollicofFer. The boys in blue, 
acting under orders from Brigadier General U. S. Grant, 
invaded the state at Paducah. 

General Albert Sidney Johnston of Kentucky took 
command of the Confederate ''Central Army of Ken- 
tucky," and under his orders General Simon B. Buckner 
fortified Bowling Green. 

At Wildcat Mountain, near London, a bloody con- 
flict took place, General ZollicofFer leading the 
Confederates, and Colonel T. T. Garrard and General 
SchoepfF the Federals. The Confederates, being out- 
numbered, withdrew, after a loss to each side. 

At Sacramento, Colonel Forrest defeated a company 
of Federals two days after Christmas, 1861. 

Early the next year General ZoUicofTer and General 



THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 



11^ 



George B. Crittenden encountered General Thomas 
at Mill Springs ; reenforcements came to the Federals, 
the gallant ZoUicoflFer fell, and the Confederates were 
forced to retreat. 

At Big Hill, in Rockcastle County, the Federals 
were defeated ; at Richmond the Confederates were 
again victorious, while at Munfordville they were 
repulsed. 

At Augusta a bloody battle between Colonel Basil 
Duke's men and the home guards under Dr. Joshua T. 
Bradford resulted in another victory for the Con- 
federates. 

In the severe battle of Perryville, where 25,000 
Federals, under General A. McCook, met 16,000 Con- 
federates under General William J. Hardee, the Federal 
loss was more than four 
thousand and the Confeder- 
ate, one thousand less. This 
was one of the most desper- 
ately contested battles of the 
war. 

That daring Confederate 
cavalryman. General John 
H. Morgan, the ** Francis 
Marion " of the Confederacy, 
captured Glasgow, Eliza- 
bethtown, and the block- 
houses at Muldraugh's Hill, where he tore up the rail- 
road track. Colonel Cluke defeated the Federals at 




Gen. John H. Morgan. 



174 THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 

Mount Sterling, destroyed railway trains, and captured 
supplies. 

At Bardstown, Maysville, Tompkinsville, Cynthiana, 
and Paducah, the two sides met in deadly conflict. 
At the latter place the daring Confederate cavalryman, 
General Nathan Bedford Forrest, entered with his 
troops. Here also General A, P, Thompson, while 
gallantly leading his troops in a charge on Fort Ander- 
son, fell pierced by a cannon ball. 

At Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, 
Vicksburg, Donelson, Shiloh, Baton Rouge, Stone 
River, indeed, on almost every battlefield, Kentucky 
courage was tested and never found wanting. 

At the close of the crucial conflict more than thirty 
thousand of the flower of our Kentucky manhood had 
fallen, and thousands more were crippled. 

More than forty thousand Kentuckians followed the 
fortunes of the Confederacy. Among them were : 
General Albert Sidney Johnston ; Lieutenant Generals 
Simon B. Buckner and John B. Hood ; Major Generals 
John C. Breckinridge, William Preston, and George B. 
Crittenden ; Brigadier Generals John Hunt Morgan, 
Humphrey Marshall, Ben Hardin Helm, Basil W, Duke, 
Roger W, Hanson, Lloyd Tilghman, John S, Williams, 
George B. Hodge, Thomas H, Taylor, Henry B. Lyon, 
Adam R, Johnson, and Richard S. Gano. 

More than one hundred thousand of the white men 
of our state and eleven thousand negroes enlisted in 
the Federal cause. Among the former were numbered : 



WHY SOME CITIES WERE SO NAMED 175 

Major Generals Thomas L. Crittenden, Cassius M. 
Clay, Don Carlos Buell, William Nelson, Lovell H. 
Rousseau, and Thomas J. Wood ; Brigadier and Brevet 
Major Generals Robert Anderson, Richard W. John- 
son, Stephen G. Burbridge, W. T. Ward, Walter C. 
Whittaker, John T. Croxton, and EU Long; Brigadier 
Generals James M. Shackelford, James S. Jackson, 
Green Clay Smith, Speed S. Fry, Jerry T. Boyle, 
Edward H. Hobson, T. T. Garrard, L. P. Watkins, and 
W. P. Sanders. 

Of the Kentuckians engaged we can truly say no 
braver men were found on either side; no better citi- 
zens have helped to develop our state since the conflict 
closed. Now only a few veterans are left on either side. 
Most of them are 

" Under the sod and the dew 

Waiting the judgment day;" 

SO let all unite in 

" Love and tears for the blue 
Tears and love for the gray." 

WHY SOME CITIES WERE SO NAMED 

When a baby is christened we at once wonder why 
it was so named, especially if the name be a new or odd 
one. When we hear a new name for an invention we 
begin to look up the etymology of the word to see why 
it is so called. So it is with places, for there is a reason 
for their names being what they are. Take the beau- 



176 WHY SOME CITIES WERE SO NAMED 

* tiful capital of the blue-grass section of our state, and 
we find an interesting romance concerning its origin. 
In the year 1775, when 

" The first oath of Freedom's gun 
Came on the blast from Lexington," 

a party of hunters, while in camp on one of the branches 
of the Elkhorn, learned that the first battle between the 
British and Americans had taken place. To commemo- 
rate the important event they called the place of their 
encampment Lexington. William McConnell, Francis 
McConnell, Alex McClelland, John McClelland, David 
Perry, and Charles Lecompt came down the Ohio in a 
large canoe as far as the mouth of the Kentucky, 
thence up that stream to the Elkhorn region, where 
they explored and made some improvements, between 
April and June of 1775. 

Another party — Joseph Lindsay, William Lindsay, 
Patrick Jordan, Garret Jordan, and John Vance — 
explored the country and made some improvements in 
the vicinity of the present site of Lexington, and Joseph 
Lindsay, here, at the spring, built an "improver's 
cabin" and raised the first corn and beans in that 
country. 

Lexington was not permanently settled until a few 
years later, by Colonel Robert Patterson and others. 

In the summer of 1773 two parties from Virginia 
came down the Ohio River to explore the rich lands of 
Kentucky. One of these made the first survey and 
settlement at what is now the metropoHs of our state. 



WHY SOME CITIES WERE SO NAMED 177 

In August, Captain Thomas Bullitt laid off a town at 
this site, which was occasionally visited by different 
persons. No permanent settlement was made until 
in the spring of 1778, when General George Rogers 
Clark brought a few families and left them on an island 
near the Kentucky shore, which was called Corn Island 
from the circumstance that the settlers raised their first 
Indian corn there. In the fall of the same year, after 
Clark had captured the British posts that had served 
as the fountain head for the Indian incursions, the 
settlers felt more secure and removed from the island 
to the mainland. In 1780 the legislature of Virginia 
passed an act to establish the town of Louisville at 
the Falls of the Ohio, naming it in honor of Louis XVI 
of France, whose troops were at that time aiding the 
Americans in their fight for liberty. 

In 1780, on the Kentuck}^ River, where our capital 
now stands, a party, among whom was Stephen Frank, 
on their way from Bryan's Station to the fort at Lexing- 
ton to secure salt, encamped and were attacked by the 
Indians. Two were wounded, and Frank instantly 
killed. In memory of Frank the place was ever after 
called Frankfort. 

Covington was named in honor of General Leonard 
Covington, who distinguished himself at Fort Re- 
covery, 1749. The name of Colonel Richard Hender- 
son, the head of the Transylvania Company, is per- 
petuated in Henderson, or, as it was formerly known, 
Hendersonville. Bowling Green, denoting a plat for 

PURCELL's KENTUCKY 12 



178 WHY SOME CITIES WERE SO NAMED 

bowling, probably came from the name found in 
Yorkshire, England. 

Hopkinsville perpetuates the name of the Revolu- 
tionary hero, General Samuel Hopkins. Owensboro 
was named in honor of Colonel Abraham Owen, who 
fell at Tippecanoe. Ashland gained its name from the 
vast amount of ash timber in that region. Maysville 
bears the name of its founder, John May. George- 
town and Washington both took their names from our 
first President. 

The first part of Mount Sterling was named from 
the many mounds in the vicinity, the latter from a 
city in Scotland. Richmond was named for a city in 
Virginia, and Shelby ville for our first governor. Smith- 
land was named for Captain James Smith, the first 
white man to explore that region. Catlettsburg and 
Danville were called respectively from their founders, 
Horatio Catlett and Walker Daniel. Lebanon, with 
its abundance of cedar trees, was named for the moun- 
tain in Palestine, where such trees abound. 

Paris, from the city in France, Versailles, from the 
royal palace in that city, and Glasgow, from a city in 
Scotland, bear transatlantic names. Eminence from 
its elevated position, and Eddyville from the eddies 
in the Cumberland River near there, bear names 
descriptive of the places. Kuttawa, or Cuttawa, the 
red man's first name for the Kentucky River, is the 
only town in the state, besides Paducah, bearing an 
Indian name. Carrollton, from Charles Carroll, Frank- 



KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE 179 

lin, from the great philosopher, Ludlow, from Israel 
Ludlow, and Princeton, from William Prince, its first 
settler, perpetuate names noted in history, science, 
and frontier days. 

Cynthiana, for Cynthia and Anna, daughters of the 
proprietor, and Elizabethtown, for the wife of Colonel 
John Hardin, are the only towns in the state named for 
women. 

Morganfield, for General Daniel Morgan, Nicholas- 
ville, for Colonel George Nichols, and Greenville, for 
General Nathanael Greene, commemorate, respectivel}^, 
three Revolutionary officers. Bardstown, Campbells- 
ville, Flemingsburg, and Hawesville perpetuate the 
names of their founders, David Baird, Adam Campbell, 
John Fleming, and Richard Hawes, respectively. 
Berea is from the ancient city in Macedonia, Columbus 
from the great navigator, and Lancaster from a town 
in Pennsylvania; Adairville and Morehead from two 
former governors. Governor John Adair and Governor 
James Morehead. Captain Paschal Hickman, Hon- 
orable John L. Murray, Colonel T. D. Owings, and the 
Wickliffes are remembered respectively by the towns 
of Hickman, Murray, Owingsville, and WicklifFe. 

KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE 

Whether we consider the valuable additions to 
scientific literature, note the practical, useful inven- 
tions, or record the actual activities in various scientific 



i8o KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE 

lines, many Kentuckians will be found on the eminent 
roll. 

A Louisville woman, Ellen C. Semple, has given us 
^'American History and its Geographic Conditions." 
James N. Baskett, while a novelist, has also contributed 
some scientific papers that have won him fame in many 
lands. John Uri Lloyd, — both novelist and scientist, 
— though a native of New York, was reared in Ken- 
tucky. He is a noted chemist and has written much 
along his line. 

Elsewhere, we have spoken of Kentucky inventors, 
and also given a sketch of the great ornithologist, 
John James Audubon. We are indebted for facts 
about prehistoric Kentucky to "Ancient History or 
Annals of Kentucky" published as an introduction to 
Marshall's "History of Kentucky," by the eccentric 
naturalist, C. S. Rafinesque. Though born in Con- 
stantinople, he spent seven years as professor of the 
natural sciences, and of the French, Spanish, and 
Italian languages in Transylvania University in Lexing- 
ton. It was Rafinesque who, amid all the privations of 
pioneer traveling, explored Kentucky in the early part 
of the nineteenth century, from Greenup on the east 
to McCracken County on the west. He covered nearly 
the entire area of the blue grass, and also included in 
his itinerary the remote counties, Adair, Clay, Harlan, 
Perry, Pulaski, and Rockcastle, and located one 
hundred and forty-eight sites and five hundred and five 
ancient remains or monuments of the Mound Builders. 



KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE i8l 



Audubon tells of his first meeting with this great 
antiquarian, whose dress, if not fashionable, was at 
least remarkable. He wore, says Audubon, "a long, 
loose coat of yellow nankeen which hung loosely about 
him like a sack, much the worse for the many rubs it 
had got in its time and stained all over with the juice 
of plants. A waistcoat of the same, 
with enormous pockets, reached over 
a pair of tight pantaloons, the lower 
part of which was buttoned down to 
the ankles." In this attire, with a 
bundle of dried plants on his back, 
Rafinesque accidentally approached 
Audubon and asked where the noted 
naturalist lived. Upon learning it was 
the great Audubon to whom he was 
speaking, Rafinesque handed him a 
letter of introduction in which the 
writer recommended an ''odd fish" 
which might not have been described in an}^ published 
treatise. Audubon at once asked to be shown the 
''odd fish," but soon realized that Rafinesque answered 
to that name. It was during this visit, that, in his ex- 
citement to secure a new species of bat, Rafinesque 
demolished Audubon's favorite violin. His versatility, 
his energy, and his achievements stamp him as one of 
the most remarkable of men in many lines of thought 
and activity. 

In the field of medical science, also, Kentucky in 




Rafinesque, the 



N 



aturaiist. 



1 82 "BESSEMER STEEL" IN KENTUCKY 

both past and present has been noted. In 1806, 
Doctor Brashear of Bardstown successfully performed 
an amputation at the hip joint, the first operation of 
the kind in the United States. In 1809, Doctor 
Ephraim McDowell of Danville performed one which 
was the first of its kind in the world, and of which 
Doctor Gross in his '' Lives of Eminent American Phy- 
sicians and Surgeons of the Nineteenth Century " says, 
*'Had McDowell lived in France, he would have been 
elected a member of the Royal Academy of Surgery, 
received from the king the cross of the Legion of Honor, 
and obtained from the government a magnificent reward 
as an acknowledgment of the services rendered his 
country, his profession, and his fellow creatures." 

"BESSEMER STEEL" IN KENTUCKY , 

One most important invention or discovery of the 
nineteenth century was made by William Kelly, who 
came from Pittsburgh and located near Eddyville, in 
Lyon County, in 1846. Here he operated both the 
Union and the Suwanee furnaces, mostly by slave labor, 
until he conceived the plan of using Chinese workers, 
which he secured through a New York tea house. As 
these Celestials, with their pigtails, were the first in 
this section, they created a great deal of curiosity. 
Mr. Kelly, having a special knowledge of chemistry 
and metallurgy, investigated and experimented in the 
manufacture of iron, and concluded that the crude metal 



"BESSEMER STEEL" IN KENTUCKY 183 

could be converted into steel without fuel ; that by 
placing the fluid metal in a suitable furnace and forc- 
ing powerful blasts of air through the molten mass, he 
could produce the desired result. 

His veteran forgemen could not conceive of metal 
being ''boiled" by simply blowmg air through it, for 
it had been their experience that air blown over its 
surface chilled it. They knew nothing of the affinity 
of oxygen with carbon for producing heat; they had 
always consumed quantities of charcoal to secure this 
greater heat; they had buried bars of wrought iron in 
charcoal in a furnace, where, the air being shut off, the 
charcoal was slowly burned for two or more weeks. 
Then the product was taken out and melted, forming 
''cast steel." So they were completely surprised when 
forcing the currents of air through the mass of iron 
intensified it to incandescence and refined the metal. 

The experiment was made in 1851 and used by Mr. 
Kelly advantageousl}^ for many years. Being almost 
isolated in practically a wilderness, thirty miles from 
even the nearest country press, the inventor failed to 
advertise and take proper advantage of his invention. 
In 1855, however, many of the steamboats plying the 
Ohio River were using boiler plates made from iron 
prepared by "Kelly's air-boiling process." The next 
year Henry Bessemer, an iron manufacturer of Eng- 
land, took out a patent for this pneumatic process, to 
which his name has been given ; but, although Mr. 
Kelly was delayed in securing his patent by his attorney, 



1 84 KENTUCKY ARTISTS 

when the claim was heard by the commissioner of 
the Patent Office in this country, it was decided that 
Mr. Kelly was the inventor and his patent was at once 
granted. For many years Mr. Kelly received a royalty 
on his interest in the inventions. In time the patents 
of Kelly, Bessemer, and Mushet were combined. 
Prior to this discovery, steel cost five times as much 
as iron ; now steel rails, wearing four times as long as 
iron, cost only a few dollars more per ton. Thus we 
see the incalculable importance of another Kentucky 
invention, for now steel is made directly from pig iron 
in about thirty minutes, instead of as formerly in almost 
as many days. 

KENTUCKY ARTISTS 

While Kentucky's sons and daughters have enriched 
the field of science by inventions and discoveries, they 
have not neglected the fine arts. 

Among the painters, Matthew H. Jouett of Mercer 
County from early childhood displayed a talent by 
drawing sketches with a lead pencil. He became a 
pupil of Gilbert Stuart, who always called him *' Ken- 
tucky." Jouett, on the occasion of La Fayette's 
visit, painted the noted general, and from that sketch 
painted the life-sized one that hangs in the State 
House. His pictures were on exhibition at the World's 
Fair at Chicago and compared favorably with those of 
the best foreign painters. It is said that Thomas S. 



KENTUCKY ARTISTS 



185 



Noble, another native of Kentucky who has won fame 
with his brush, exclaimed after viewing Jouett's por- 
traits, " Rembrandt is next to God and Jouett is next to 
Rembrandt." The Honorable Charles Summers, who 
had made a study of foreign artists, on seeing one of 
Jouett's portraits, 
examined it closely 
and exclaimed, 
*'What a glorious 
VanDyckr Rich- 
ard Jouett Menefee 
made a catalogue 
a few years ago of 
three hundred and 
thirty-four paint- 
ings by his grand- 
father. 

In Frankfort was 
born another boy, 
Joseph H. Bush, 
whose talents at an 
early age caused 
him to use his mother's hearth and a piece of charcoal 
to sketch a profile of his father. Among his noted 
works are portraits of General Zachary Taylor, Benja- 
min W. Dudley, and Governor John Adair. 

John Grimes, who Hved many 3^ears in this state, is 
noted for a portrait, ''The Country Lad," and "Sui- 
cide," a composition. Oliver Frazer first saw the Hght 




Matthew H. Joucrr. 



1 86 KENTUCKY ARTISTS 

in Fayette County. He studied under Jouett and 
Thomas Sully, and later at Paris, Florence, Berlin, 
and Ludlow, where he and P. R. Healy, fellow students, 
became fast friends. 

Though he was born in Pennsylvania, so much of the 
work of Louis Morgan was done in Kentucky that we 
class him with her artists. His "Simon Kenton" was 
the most prominent picture at an exhibition in the 
Academy of Fine Arts at Philadelphia. 

As a boy, Samuel W. Price also exhibited artistic 
talent ; among his portraits being ''Old King Solomon" 
and one of Chief Justice George Robertson. Among 
his works in composition are ''Caught Napping" and 
"Gone Up." There are also W. C. Allen, Mrs. EHza 
Brown, Aaron H. Corwine, Paul Sawyier, Nevill Cain, 
and others who have done creditable work. 

The poet-sculptor, Joel T. Hart, when only five 
years old modeled figures of animals in clay, molded a 
button out of pewter, and carved in wood. His first 
work of note was a bust from life of General Cassius 
M. Clay; among other noted men of whom he made 
busts were General Andrew Jackson, the Honorable John 
H. Crittenden, Robert Wickliffe, and the Reverend 
Alexander Campbell. His statue of Henry Clay now 
stands on the capitol grounds at Richmond. Louis- 
ville and New Orleans each ordered a statue of Clay. 
After that came Hart's masterpiece, "Woman Trium- 
phant," which stood for years at Lexington, Kentucky. 

The Kentucky legislature appropriated twelve hun- 



KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF LETTERS 187 

dred dollars for removing the remains of Joel T. Hart 
from Florence, Italy, and reinterring them at Frankfort. 
Although born in California, Mrs. Mary Anderson 
de Navarro, an artist in another line, spent her girl- 
hood in Louisville, so Kentuckians have ever claimed 
her as "Our Mary." Her brilliant stage career is known 
to all. 

KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF LETTERS 

Kentucky, rich in themes for song and story, has 
attracted the attention of some of the master minds of 
literature. Sir Walter Scott in '' Marmion " sings of 
" Kentucky's wood-encumbered brake." 

George Gordon (Lord Byron) in '' Don Juan " names 
" The General Boone, backwoodsman of Kentucky," 

while Alfred Tennyson tells of 

'* Kentucky's chambers of eternal gloom." 

Her own sons and daughters, native and adopted, 
have also sung her glories, and in many other themes 
have made a great contribution to American Literature. 
Gilbert Imlay was our first novelist. Since him it is im- 
possible to name all who have brought honor to their 
state by their works, but among the writers of prose 
are the noted novelists James Lane Allen and John 
Fox, Jr. Gertrude Atherton's writings include "The 
Bell in the Fog," "Rulers of Kings" and "Rezanov." 
Alice Hegan Rice has delighted many with "Mrs. 



KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF LETTERS 



Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch " and '' Lovey Mary/' 
Ingram Crockett's "A Year Book of Kentucky 
Woods and Fields" and "A Brother of Christ" give 

him a place in this group. 
Edwin C. Listey's "Love 
Story of Abner Stone" and 
"The Race of the Swift " 
are honors to their creator. 

Abbie Carter Goodloe's 
"At the Foot of the Rockies" 
has been favorably compared 
with some of Kipling's works. 
Frank Waller Allen in "Back 
to Arcady" has given a pas- 
toral romance. Mary Ray- 
mond Shipman Andrews has 
distinguished herself in "A 
Kidnapped Colony" and 
"The Perfect Tribute." 
Young and old delight in the "Little Colonel Stories" 
by Mrs. Annie Fellows Johnston, "Emmy Lou" by 
Mrs. George Madden Martin, and Eva A. Madden's 
"Two Royal Foes." John Bacon gave us "The Pur- 
suit of Phyllis"; Nancy Huston Banks, "Oldfield"; 
Eleanor T. Kinkead, "The Invisible Bond"; and Mrs. 
H. D. Pittman, "The Belle of the Blue-grass Coun- 
try." Hallie Erminie Rives-Wheeler has given " Hearts 
Courageous" and "Tales from Dickens." 

John Uri Lloyd has described mountain life in "Red- 




James Lane Allen. 



KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF LETTERS 189 

head" and "Stringtown on the Pike," while his "Eti- 
dorhpa" shows a master mind. 

James Tandy ElHs has dehghted all with his dialect 
stories in "Sprigs o' Mint." Mrs. Fannie Caldwell 
Macauley (Frances Little) has written "The Lady of 
the Decoration," while "Aunt Jane of Kentucky" by 
Mrs. Eliza Calvert Obenchain (Eliza Calvert Hall) has 
attracted universal attention. 

John Wilson Townsend in "Kentuckians in History 
and Literature" and "Kentucky in American Letters" 
has done a great work for an appreciative public. 

William C. Watts' "Chronicles of a Kentucky Settle- 
ment" is a great pen picture of early times ; and Irvin 
S. Cobb's "Back Home" and "Cobb's Anatomy" have 
won him undying fame as a story teller and humorist. 

In other lines of prose we find John Bradford's 
"Notes on Kentucky," histories of the state by Mar- 
shall, Lewis and R. H. Collins, Z. F. Smith, Elizabeth 
Kinkead, and Ed Porter Thompson; also the works of 
Humphrey Marshall, Mann Butler, Thomas Corwin, 
Fornatus Cosby, Samuel D. Gross, Henry Watterson, 
Bennett H. Young, and others. 

Since our first poet, Thomas Johnson, there have 
been many who have won credit in verse. 

Theodore O'Hara's immortal elegy, "The Bivouac of 
the Dead " is known to all. John Wilson Townsend 
has called Madison Cawein the successor of Sidney 
Lanier; Edmund Gosse calls him the "hermit thrush," 
while others have named him the "Kentucky Keats." 



I90 



KENTUCKIANS IN HISTORY 



Cale Young Rice has won fame in dramatic verse. 

Thomas H. Chivers, a native of Georgia, spent some 

time in Kentucky. He ac- 
cused Poe of steaUng some 
of his words in *'The Raven" 
from him. 

Robert Burns Wilson, the 
poet-painter, has published 
several volumes of the highest 
merit. Bishop John L. Spald- 
ing, William O. Butler, 
Fornatus Cosby, Jr., George 
D. Prentice, Sarah T. Bolton, 
Mary E. Betts, Henry T. 
Stanton, Sarah N. Piatt, and 
a host of others have written 

verse that will compare favorably with that of many 

writers more renowned. 




ison v^awein. 



KENTUCKIANS IN HISTORY 



Whether we write of the hardy pioneer facing 
danger and privation, of the volunteer soldier freely 
offering up his life on the altar of his country, of the 
great general leading his men to victory, of the mature- 
minded statesman helping to guide the ship of state, or 
of the brilliant orator swaying thousands by his elo- 
quence, we find Kentuckians in every role. Likewise 
we find the skillful surgeon severing the diseased 



I 



KENTUCKIANS IN HISTORY 191 

part from that aglow with health, the learned lawyer 
tactfully pleading his client's cause, the able heads 
of our government discharging well their duty, the 
learned judge of our highest court presiding with wis- 
dom and justice, and the consul to foreign countries 
shedding luster upon the post he holds. Again we note 
the scholarly heads of universities training the youth of 
the land, the sound business man striving for a better 
city, the patriot answering in any form his country's 
call, the great naturalist finding the many secrets of 
mother Nature, the historian cautiously collecting 
data and describing important incidents, and the sweet 
singer bringing cheer into every place. Further we find 
the humorist bringing smiles to every face, the conse- 
crated minister leading thousands to a new life, the in- 
ventor bringing comfort and ease, and the artist skill- 
fully using his brush or chisel to imitate Nature. In- 
deed, the roll call of eminent Kentuckians will show that 
they have played such important parts in both military 
and civil aflPairs that one or more, and often many, 
Kentuckians have filled each of these posts with credit 
to themselves and glory to their state. 

None have been found braver, none more brilliant, 
and none more beloved, whether serving in their native 
or their adopted state. 

More than eighty have represented us in foreign 
countries; more than fifty have been governors in 
other states; more than thirty have been United 
States senators from other states; and more than 



192 KENTUCKIANS IN HISTORY 

eighty have been representatives in Congress from 
other states. 

Scanning the pages of our national history, 3^ou will 
find the names of Henry Clay, Zachary Taylor, Jeffer- 
son Davis, Abraham Lincoln, John C. Breckinridge, 
Linn Boyd, John G. Carlisle, Adlai Stevenson, Thomas 
Corwin, Isaac Shelby, John M. Harlan, Ninian Ed- 
wards, Roger Q. Mills, and hundreds of others of the 
native or adopted sons of our commonwealth. Without 
their worth and works many chapters could not have 
been written, many policies could not have been per- 
fected, and many victories could not have been won. 



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